Wings of Freedom: University Years
by Mackie96
Summary: This is a university setting AOT/SNK AU where all characters meet each other during their college years. The main narrative will focus on the developing relationship between Armin and Annie (Aruani) while also focusing on the success of the Trost City University Football Team, which many of the main characters are part of. ALL CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF HAJIME ISAYAMA.
1. Their First Day: Eren, Mikasa, Armin

"You're doing it again", she announced in her usual deadpan.

"Hmm?", enquired Armin, blowing his fringe from his eyes.

"Oh please, like you don't know?", Mikasa huffed "You're fiddling with your thumbs, you always do it when you're nervous".

"I-I don't…", the blond teen began,

"Armin, you're the smartest and most perceptive person I've ever met, yet you don't even notice your own worst habits", Mikasa interjected before realising her rudeness. "Sorry I snapped at you, but it's a habit you would do well to end before it becomes associated with you barely thirty seconds into your first day at college", she gave him a slight smile and fixed her deep, gray, Asiatic eyes on him.

"What's up?", enquired Eren, removing his ear buds, heavy-metal music blaring from them.

Mikasa sighed in frustration, "Always the observationist aren't you, Jaeger?", saying this as she flicked her boyfriend behind the ear.

"Hey, cut that out raven", Eren retorted, feigning annoyance while addressing Mikasa by her pet name.

Mikasa looked down "Aren't you forgetting something?", she eyed him cheekily with the slightest of smiles forming on the corners of her lips.

"Oh, yeah", Eren began to lean in for a kiss and suddenly lost his balance, waving his arms around before falling flat on his face.

"Your shoelaces, perhaps?", Mikasa giggled, not a usual sight from her.

" _Real_ Smooth", Armin chuckled, Eren looked taken aback by the sudden sassiness of his usually laid-back childhood friend.

"..."

"Eren Jaeger at a loss for words, what date is it, I need to record this moment?", Armin continued, mockingly reaching for his signature pocket-diary.

"Armin Arlert not knowing something for once, best record that too, no?", Eren responded with a slight glare towards the diminutive blond.

"Calm down boys, we're almost there", Mikasa had returned to her typical stoic state, "We should be approaching the registration desk soon".

Trost City University was exceptionally large, the three freshman had been walking through the campus for twenty minutes now and still hadn't reached their destination. At over a hundred and thirty years old it still remained as one of the country's top Universities and seemed to excel at just about everything from academics to varsity sports.

Historic red brick buildings mingled with modern dormitories and high tech laboratories and student facilities, while the famous architecture of the Reiss Library stood tall and proud to the three's immediate right. Armin's eyes marvelled upon its facade, he had done his research and was well aware that the library possessed every book published in existence either physically or digitally, and now he had access to them.

"Armin, keep up"

"Right, Sorry".

Twenty minutes later the three had met up again following registration. All three had received their keys to their respective rooms along with all sorts of tedious documents assembled together with 'Freshman Year Survival Pack' typed on the front. All three began to converse about their prospective roommates.

Armin took a look at his accommodation document to see who he would be spending the next academic year rooming with; Connie Springer, a Criminal Justice major from the small town of Ragako, which was a mere thirty minutes drive from campus. Marco Bodt was the other roommate, a Political Science major from Trost. Since rooming on campus was mandatory for all undergraduates, Armin didn't bat an eyelid.

Since Eren was on a football scholarship he would likely be rooming with fellow varsity sports stars; Jean Kirchstein, an Engineering major, and like Armin's roommate Marco, also from Trost. The other roommate was Reiner Braun, a Sports Science with Management major and from the city of Marley on the other side of the country. "Long way from home", Eren thought to himself.

Since gender was segregated in student accommodation Mikasa, would be rooming in the girls' dormitory. Taking a quick look at her documents, she let a small smile form on her lips; Mina Carolina, a fellow graduate from Shiganshina High School and somewhat her friend was now her roommate. A small giggle escaped her lips as she noticed Mina's major; Drama and English. Armin and Eren just stared at her both looking puzzled. "Nothing, girl stuff", she replied, bluntly.

"Oh?", Eren mockingly enquired, while raising an eyebrow.

"Mind your own, please, still nosey after all these years?", she sighed her expression as stone-faced as ever.

"Is that not what charmed you in the first place?"

Armin rolled his eyes.

"That, and how easy you are to manipulate", her voice maintained its monotonous tone. She continued to read her documents to find out who her other roommate was; Annie Leonhart, a Finance major and like Eren's roommate coming all the way from Marley. Mikasa thanked her blessings that she was rooming with someone she already knew, the less effort she had to spend making new friends the better, Armin and Eren was all she ever needed.

"I say we take some time to settle in, meet up for dinner later?", announced Eren.

"Sure see you guys then"

And with that all three of them split.

* * *

Armin cursed his lack of physical strength while struggling with his luggage, he had always been small and despite a three inch growth spurt over the summer he still only stood at 5'6", still a full inch shorter than a 15 year old Eren Jaeger. Nonetheless he had finally reached his destination and collapsed on a bed he claimed as his own. The last thing he wanted to do was unpack. Armin had hoped for a quick afternoon snooze following the three hour train journey from Shiganshina and the exhausting trek to his dorm room,, trust his luck for the elevator to be broken on the day he moved in.

"WHAT UP ROOMIES", a voice erupted from the dorm apartment's living area.

"Well so much for that", Armin groaned to himself, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and made his way into the living area. The source of the voice came from a shaven-headed boy who had his back turned to Armin. The boy noticed he had company and turned around. "You must be one of the roommates, name's Connie Springer, pleased to meet ya bud", he smiled while extending a hand.

"Armin, Art- sorry Arlert", great start Mr. Mojo he thought to himself while meeting Connie's hand. Armin was met with a bone-crushing grip. "Great to put a face to the name, just want to let ya know whatever questions you have about me or living habits, feel free to fire away", the smile hadn't left his face. At least he's friendly Armin sighed, perhaps meeting new people wouldn't be so daunting after all.

Armin took a moment to take a closer look at Connie, his head was shaved to a buzzcut, athletic, short, but still taller than Armin by about two inches. Armin smiled at the grinning face of Rick Sanchez on Connie's t-shirt with his trademark catchphrase of 'Wubba Lubba Dub Dub'. "I see you've good taste in TV at least", Armin said after breaking the momentary silence. "You know it", Connie returned Armin's smile "Ricky and Morty has to be one of the funniest shows ever made, I'm just hoping it isn't ruined the same way The Simpsons and Family Guy were".

"Excuse me, is this room 407", a deep voice came from the doorway making both boys jump a little. Both turned to see a tallish boy with black hair and a bridge of freckles running across his face from cheek to cheek. "That depends, you got any booze?", Connie replied.

"I...uh-"

"Relax brother, I kid of course, Connie Springer proud representative of Ragako".

He's certainly not lacking in confidence, Armin said to himself in his head.

"Bodt. Marco Bodt", the tall boy responded.

"Wait, High School All-State Quarterback, Marco Bodt"

"The very same"

"You gave a beating to my school last October, lucky for you I was injured for that game", Connie beamed at him.

"I thought your name sounded familiar, no doubt you're also here on a scholarship?"

"You betcha, hope you're mentally preparing yourself for throwing a few interceptions my way come practise".

Marco just smiled "We shall see", finally turning his attention to Armin, "Apologies how rude of me, nice to meet you", extending his hand which Armin greeted. "Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina", at least he didn't embarrass himself this time. He compared the differing handshakes of his roommates, Marco's grip was firm but not overwhelming like Connie's was. "Again, a pleasure, hopefully we all get on like a house on fire". "Shouldn't be hard", called Connie from the other side of the room. Of course you would say that, Armin thought to himself the subtlest of smiles forming on his face.

* * *

Eren's hopes of securing dibs on his pick of beds were dashed upon seeing the luggage planted on the the beds in the dormitory apartment. Looks like his bedroom was placed dead centre between those of his fellow roommates. "I hope to God they're not snorers", he muttered to himself.

He dumped his luggage in his room and sank back into the sofa in the living area and took in his surroundings. The dormitory apartment was spacious with enough room for both a small kitchen and a space to chill in the living area. There was a coffee table with an arrangement of info brochures on both Trost City University and the greater urban area of Trost itself. A modern television set sat on a stand in the corner of the room. He had already seen the three bedrooms each equipped with a large bed, a modest wardrobe, a dresser and a desk built into the wall with an overhead study lamp.

He went to take a look at what he presumed was the bathroom but was met with a locked door. Eren slumped back down on the couch when the door to the apartment opened. In stepped a towering, well-built young man with light blond hair and piercing amber eyes. "Hey, you must be Jaeger", the colossal teen spoke with a deep voice that commanded authority yet still had a calming-like quality. "Yeah, sorry, hi", Eren offered his hand and watched in awe as the giant's hand completely engulfed his own. "Reiner Braun, I'm from Marley, in case the accent didn't already give it away".

As both boys withdrew their hands the bathroom door swung open. Out came a tallish, gangly boy with blond-brown hair and a long face that Eren Couldn't help but compare to a horse's. "Eren this is obviously Jean Kirchstein, a hometown boy from this fair city", there was a hint of mockery in Reiner's voice. Jean just glared at Reiner. "About time you showed up I thought I'd only have to share with one roommate", the boy spoke as if he were full of his own importance, Eren thought to himself. "You don't make friends easily, do you Kirchstein", Reiner was sharp in his retort and Eren could tell he didn't suffer people like Jean Kirstein lightly.

After an awkward minute or so of silence Eren finally spoke up "So, you guys on football scholarships too?".

"Sure thing, defensive end"

"Cornerback, and what about you, Jaeger?", Jean continued to glare at Eren,

"Running-back", Eren knew how they would respond.

"Hopefully we don't hit you too hard when training starts", Reiner smirked at him.

"Don't expect us to hold back just 'cause we're roommates", there was a hint of a smile on Jean's face.

"You'll be face down in the dirt before you even lay a finger on me", Eren's trademark confidence was beginning to shine through.

"Self-assured, I like it", Reiner continued to smirk at him. Jean just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Mikasa Ackerman had not always been an introvert. In her much younger years she was a lot more bubbly and outgoing. A traumatic kidnapping of both her and her mother resulting in the near-murder of her father by the same kidnappers before her tenth birthday was what changed that. She began to see the world for what it truly was; cruel and unforgiving in which only the strong survive. It was not that she hated people, she still had her mother and father as well as Eren and Armin after all. She was just more aware of the inner evil that all humans possess no matter how kind-hearted they may appear. Everyone had their demons and she was no exception.

She had not been in the room thirty seconds before she was greeted by a call of; "Mikasa!" and she was wrapped in an embrace from behind. Had she not known who the owner of the voice was she would have flipped them over her shoulder. Mikasa turned around and greeted her former high-school classmate. "Hey, Mina as calm and reserved as ever", doing little to avoid the deadpan in her voice.

"Whatcha been up to to all summer, girl", Mina released her grip around her.

"Not much, Armin, Eren and I travelled along the coast for most of it, camping by the ocean on some nights".

"Don't tell me you guys third-wheeled poor little blondie all summer, did you?", Mina let out a small giggle.

"All three of us have been friends since we've been nine, Eren and I being an item doesn't change that and he's not as little as he used to be", Mikasa retorted rather bluntly.

"Oh, I kid of course, funny how not only did we apply to the same college but also became roomies", Mina's excitement still hadn't left her voice. "Did you carry all that up yourself?", she continued gesturing to Mikasa's luggage.

"I'm a big girl, I can handle just fine".

"Thomas insisted that he bring my stuff up for me, I saw no reason to deny him that"

"You two are never too far apart, are you?"

"Nothing wrong with someone showing a little chivalry towards their girlfriend, why didn't Eren do the same?"

"He offered, but I made it perfectly clear to him that I didn't need his help".

Their conversation came to a halt after Mikasa noticed a shape appear at the doorway. A girl of short stature with light blonde hair tied up in a messy bun and piercing pale-blue eyes leaned against the door frame with a rather sullen look on her face, arms crossed. "Oh, you must be Annie, pleased to meet you roomie", Mina began to give the girl a hug.

"What are you doing?", Even Mikasa was taken aback by the newcomer's bluntness.

Mina withdrew her hug and was met with a less than pleased look which looked far more sullen than previously and from Mina's point of view not far off from terrifying.

"I, uh...well-"

"I'm not really the hugging type"

"Well, I guess-"

"What?"

"Nothing I just-"

"Have you ever considered that strangers might not like to be hugged?", Annie furrowed her brow even further.

"..."

"Whatever, didn't think so", she walked by the stunned noirette.

Annie began placing her luggage in one of the bedrooms. "Actually, I thought we could draw straws to decide who got which room", Mina began, having regained her composure. Annie turned her head around while cocking an eyebrow at her. Mikasa gave Mina a discouraging look. Annie continued into her chosen room and slammed the door behind her.

Mina collapsed on the couch and waited until Annie was out of earshot. "Wow", she sighed. "Not used to that and I thought you were harsh".

Mikasa just shrugged "Whatever, as long as she stays quiet and doesn't snore, I'm at peace", noticing the somewhat crestfallen look on her friend's face "It's not like you can be friends with everyone, Mina".

"I know, I'm just a little shocked she would act that way, you would think she was actively avoiding making friends."

"She might just be tired, she did come all the way from Marley after all", Mikasa replied, her attention focused on the view outside the window. Mina took a look at her watch, "Oh, I forgot, I'm meeting Thomas for coffee, we'll chat later", standing up giving Mikasa a hug. Mikasa returned the embrace, she wasn't really the hugging type either but she reckoned it was the least she could do given the circumstances.

Mikasa moved her luggage into her room and quickly began to unpack. Making sure everything was neatly folded and organised by colour, purpose and climate in her wardrobe and dresser, she took a quick glance at her phone. She still had a few hours to kill so decided she would hit the campus gym. Grabbing her gym bag she made her way outside her room. She noticed Annie had taken a seat on the couch and was preoccupied with her phone. Mikasa left with both girls not acknowledging the other. "Bitch", Mikasa said to herself outside the door in a hushed voice. In the apartment Annie let out a satisfied sigh knowing that she would have the place to herself, for the next few hours at least.


	2. Connie & Sasha, Jean & Marco

"Really, again?, Connie raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?", Sasha replied with a mouth full of brownie and spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Are you ever not hungry?"

"Plenty of times, unless I eat while I sleep"

"Whatever you say, Pota-"

"Don't say it"

"What, Potato Girl?, he had a mischievous look in his eye which disappeared when he suddenly found himself in a headlock.

"Take it back cue ball"

Connie struggled against her hold, he may have finally caught up with her in height over the past year but she still had a slight edge on him in terms of physical strength.

"Unnghhhh, dammit, you win, I take it back, I TAKE IT BACK!". She released her grip on him and Connie scanned around to make sure no one saw their little episode. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the surrounding strangers either took no notice or weren't interested in the fact that he lost a small test of strength against a girl.

A few minutes later they both arrived at the registration desk. Having taken a few moments to skim read over their respective documents they both finally came to their accommodation pack. Connie would be sharing with two other people, he didn't bother reading their names he just hoped they wouldn't cause him any grief. Sasha on the other hand took some time to read over her pack. Since she was in a smaller apartment she would only have one roommate: Historia Reiss, a nursing major from the neighbouring state of Sina. "I'm gonna go ahead and get settled in, I'll text ya later, Okay?", Connie announced, disrupting Sasha's train of thought.

"Hmm?", she looked up, "Yeah, sure thing" giving her friend a quick hug.

Connie picked up his luggage and headed towards his apartment.

Sasha's apartment was several floors up and she thanked her blessings that the elevator wasn't out of order in the girls' dormitory she had just received a text from Connie that this was not the case in the boys' one. Connie joked that he could use the exercise due to him overindulging on the cookies she baked for their bus journey to Trost. She struggled to contain her laughter in the elevator looking at the updates her friend sent her as he continued his journey up four flights of stairs with his burdensome luggage in tow.

She put her phone away as the elevator doors opened on the sixth floor. Making her way to the apartment she noticed that the door was already open. "Remember, if your roommate gives you any trouble, I'm literally just a quick text away from teaching her some manners".

"Ymir, that probably won't be necessary"

"Still, if she touches a single hair on your head, I'll shave hers bald."

Sasha stood in the doorway looking at the two girls. One was a tall brunette, her shoulder-length hair was done up in ponytail with her fringe drooping over her eyes. The other was considerably shorter. Long blonde hair extended pass her shoulders while her eyes were deep pools of blue. In Sasha's mind she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

Both girls hadn't noticed her yet so she cleared her throat a little. They turned around, the blonde smiled at her while the brunette gave her a sullen look. "Oh, hi you must be Sasha, I'm Historia and that's Ymir, she was just leaving." The tall brunette started towards the door as she walked by Sasha she turned her head to her "I meant every word I said", doing little to hide the threat in her voice.

"YMIRRRRR", Historia crossed her arms.

Ymir turned around and raised her arms concedingly with a small smirk on her face before exiting the apartment.

"Sorry, about Ymir, she's just overprotective"

"Y-you don't say", Sasha replied beginning to regain her composure.

"So, Sasha, what are you studying, sorry I forgot what it said in the accommodation pack", she smiled and raised her big blue eyes up at her. God, she really was small Sasha thought to herself.

"Oh, uh culinary arts with management", she began to twirl her hair while blushing.

"Wow, are you going to be a chef?"

"Hopefully, and you, Nursing was it?"

"Yep, so is Ymir".

Sasha began to bring her luggage into the apartment before Historia began to help her.

"Thanks, but you don't need to do this"

"It was the least I could do considering my friend basically threatened you before even getting to know you"

"Don't worry about it, I've faced off against scarier things"

"I like your accent where are you from"

"Thanks, I'm from Dauper, grew up on a farm".

Having brought the last of Sasha's luggage in both of them took a seat on the couch. Sasha took a container from her luggage, opened it before offering Historia a few cookies; "Here, I made them myself and I've more than enough left".

"Thank you, you're sweet", Historia gave her a warm smile

"Consider it your reward for helping" she returned her new roommate's smile.

Historia took a bite from the cookie and her eyes lit up "Wow, you said you made these?", Sasha nodded, "Well if these are anything to go by you will make a great chef". Sasha just blushed.

"So, which room would you like, Sasha?"

"I really don't mind", how could anyone be this kind-hearted, Sasha thought to herself.

"Well, how about you pick first and I'll take the other, I really don't mind".

"I guess I'll take that one", she pointed to the room on the left hand side.

"No problem"

Both girls began moving their luggage and personal effects into their respective rooms.

After packing everything away Sasha came out of her room to see Historia talking on her phone. "I'm serious Ymir, it was really mean what you did...I know that I-...I love you too but threatening my roommate when she's barely in the door, and on our first day too, is a funny way of showing it...it's alright I forgive you…", her cheeks suddenly blushed and after noticing Sasha her cheeks turned an even darker shade of red. "I'll see you later, promise me you'll at least try to get on with your roommate, please...okay love you too, bye", she hung up her phone and turned to Sasha.

"Sorry to subject you to that", Historia gave Sasha her signature warm smile.

"It's alright, hey I almost forgot to ask, I'm meeting up with a friend of mine for lunch, care to accompany me?"

"I don't see why not, beats sitting around here all day"

"Great", she whipped out her phone and sent a quick text, receiving a quick reply not a minute later "Huh, looks like he's bringing his two roommates along with him too".

"Ah, the more the merrier"

"I guess", Sasha grabbed her key while Historia picked up her purse.

* * *

"What's so funny?", Marco turned to his friend

"Oh, buzzcut got totally owned by that girl", Jean gestured to their right.

"What time does registration close at?"

"Relax, you've got two hours left, why didn't you do it online last night like I did?"

"Wifi went down as soon as I logged into my account"

Jean laughed "Just your luck, eh?"

"You know it".

After arriving at the registration desk Jean only had to pick up his key while Marco would take a solid ten minutes to complete registration. "Hey man, don't wait up"

"You sure, it's no issue?"

"Do you really want to miss out on first dibs because I need to register?"

"Good point, drinks later?"

"Sure thing"

Jean hadn't bothered to see who his roommates were. He was relieved to find the apartment hadn't been opened yet as he had to turn the key twice to unlock and open the door. He made no delay placing his effects in his room of choice. He took out his iPod dock and after setting it up turned on a playlist from his Spotify. Kygo blasted through the apartment as he began unpacking his clothes.

During this time he hadn't noticed he was no longer alone in the apartment. As he walked out of his room he got a small jump from seeing someone sitting on the couch. The stranger stood up and Jean could not get over his intimidating size. "Pleased to meet you, name's Reiner Braun", he offered his hand "I see you've already made yourself at home". Jean met his hand, "Jean Kirchstein, are you one of the roommates?".

"No, I'm just some randomer who just decided to make himself at home", he smirked.

Jean gave him a blank expression, neither boys said anything for a few minutes. Reiner finally broke the awkward silence; "Has Jaeger arrived yet?". Jean just raised his eyebrows. Reiner sighed, the smallest hint of frustration escaping with it "Eren Jaeger, our other roommate?". Jean's expression didn't change. "Whatever he'll probably be here soon", Reiner looked down at his phone "Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me, I'll be back in a few minutes, my friend needs a little assistance, are you okay?".

Jean was clutching his stomach a pained expression on his face. I knew something didn't feel right about that burrito, he thought to himself. "It's fine, don't worry about it".

"Hey, if you're not feeling great I can call the campus infirmary"

"No, I'll be fine just a bit of indigestion"

"I need to run out, text me if you're feeling worse".

Jean suddenly sprinted towards the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Reiner just shrugged and headed out.


	3. Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie

The three friends stepped off the bus as they made their way to the gates of TCU. Reiner noticed Annie had not said anything at all since they met up at the airport in Marley nearly five hours ago. Her headphones were on drowning out everything around her, while her face retained its sullen expression. Reiner made sure not to startle her lest she flip him onto his back, "Hey, Annie", tapping her shoulder slightly.

She removed her headphones and looked up at him "What?".

"Everything okay, you haven't said anything in hours?"

"I'm fine, just don't feel like talking".

Reiner looked at Bertholdt who just shrugged and shook his head. "Promise you'll at least try to get along with people here, Annie", Reiner continued. Annie sighed heavily in response; "Fine", she huffed. All three had now made their way past the university gates.

Bertholdt suddenly fell over "Dammit", looking down at the small piece of uneven pavement that had tripped him up. For an averaged sized person they probably wouldn't have fallen victim to it but Bertholdt was just under 6'8" and had size 18 feet which made it far easier for them to get caught up by minor tripping hazards such as these. Reiner laughed "You okay, buddy?"

"I'll live", he started tying his shoelaces, "Don't wait up, I'll catch up soon"

"Whatever you say"

Reiner began making his way to registration. Bertholdt had noticed that Annie was still with him. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah"

"Why are you still here?"

"Because he would try to force more conversation out of me; 'try to make some new friends Annie'…'Smile for once Annie'...'Don't be so blunt Annie' ".

Bertholdt laughed "He's not wrong you know"

"Oh please, not you too"

"Well, it wouldn't kill you to be a little more sociable"

"Yeah, whatever", she crossed her arms.

Reiner had since ran ahead of them when they made their way to the desk. Bertholdt noticed something out of the corner of his eye; a group of boys were throwing water baloons at each other. "Welcome to college, eh Annie?", she just shrugged at him in response. "If you don't cut that out, I'm calling campus security", a member of the admin team shouted after the boys. Suddenly a water baloon missed its target and made a direct hit at Annie's shirt.

Bertholdt began to sweat profusely as a scary look formed on Annie's face. "Annie, don't", she began marching over to the group of boys who were high-fiving each other. They may have missed their target but they managed to get a girl's top wet. They suddenly noticed Annie coming towards them. "Hey, looks like someone's come back for more, what's your name, cutie?". Before he knew it Annie had judo flipped him onto his back. "Oh, shit", Bertholdt said to himself "Annie, STOP". She just ignored him and began attacking the other members of the boy's group of friends.

Bertholdt took out his phone and texted Reiner; "I NEED YOUR HELP ASAP, ANNIE'S ABOUT TO KILL A GROUP OF BOYS". Bertholdt was more concerned for the boys' safety than Annie's who was a black belt in judo and experienced in muay thai. Despite her being only 5'3" Bertholdt knew he couldn't hold her back on his own when she was in full rampage mode.

Five minutes later Reiner came rushing through the doors to the reception area. Both boys grabbed their friend and did their best to restrain her. "Annie, calm down", Reiner did all he could to make his voice as calming as possible. Seeing their chance the boys ran off helping their friend up in the process.

Once they felt the boys had reached a safe enough distance they released their hold on her. Annie had calmed down, somewhat, but still had an angry look on her face. "Annie you can't go around beating people up whenever you feel like it", Berholdt took her hands in his. She pulled them away and began to brush away the hair in front of her right eye behind her ear. "Whatever", she huffed, her emotionless expression returning to her face.

Satisfied that she had calmed down enough, Reiner returned to his room while Bertholdt picked up his key from registration. Bertholdt turned to Annie again "I'm serious though, the whole world is not your enemy and vice versa". She just turned her head away from him and looked off into the distance with a disinterested look on her face. Bertholdt was well aware of the fact that Annie wasn't the hugging type, so he placed his hand on her shoulder. She put her hand on his and that was the only response he needed from her to know she was okay.

Despite the elevator being broken Bertholdt had little issue carrying his luggage to his room. He didn't really have a chance to read over his accommodation package before Annie's rampage, all he knew that he would be sharing with one person instead of two.

He finally reached his destination when he realised the door was already open, a tallish boy with a youthful face, blond hair and sideburns was arranging books on the apartment's shelf. The boy noticed Bertholdt and came over to greet him, "Oh hey, Thomas Wagner, pleased to meet you".

Bertholdt met his hand "Bertholdt Hoover, likewise".

"I thought I was tall, I'm surprised you didn't bang your head on the doorframe", Thomas let out a small laugh.

"Ah, being this tall has quite a few drawbacks, the only benefit I get is being able to reach high places, I'm just hoping my bed in here is long enough".

"You're in luck, they must've been preparing for your arrival, both beds look over seven feet long"

"Well, isn't that a relief", it was his turn to laugh.

"Look man, I'd love to stay and chat but I have a coffee date with my girlfriend, catch up later?"

"I see no reason why not"

"Cool, till then Bertholdt", Thomas headed out.

"I wonder if the other two are getting on well with their roommates too", Bertholdt thought out loud to himself after Thomas was out of earshot. He brought his luggage into his room to unpack.


	4. Social Arrangements

"Hey Babe", Mina greeted Thomas with a light kiss on the cheek.

Thomas returned her kiss "Settle in okay?"

"Pretty much, Mikasa is as deadpan as ever, though she's nothing compared to Annie, my other roommate".

"Oh?"

"She's just a little cold, I tried to give her a hug and it looked like she wanted to take my head off".

Thomas just laughed "Really?", he gave his girlfriend a hug "That doesn't bother me too much, the less people I have to share you with, the better".

Mina blushed, "Oh, you", she always appreciated Thomas' sappier side, before they dated he was a little hesitant to show it due to his upbringing in a typically emotionless German household. With Mina there was no hesitation from Thomas. They both made their way inside the coffee house.

Thomas brought their orders over to their table. Their respective drinks mirrored their personalities: for Thomas, a simple Americano, for Mina; a Frappuccino. "So how's your accommodation, you only have the one roommate don't you?", she asked.

"Yep, Bertholdt Hoover, I think that was his name, nice guy, comes across as real quiet though".

They both began to converse about their plans for settling into college life. "I hope the campus bar isn't too dry, I doubt many clubs in the city will let us in", he said fiddling with some sugar packets.

"Isn't the drinking age in this state 18 instead of 21?"

"True, but most clubs won't allow anyone under 21 in, and they're very strict with ID".

"Ah well, just better find other ways of entertaining ourselves"

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"Frat houses, maybe?", she cocked an eyebrow with a cheeky grin on her face.

Thomas looked less than amused "Eh, no".

"I'm kidding, you knew I was kidding right?"

He rolled his eyes though a small smile escaped his lips.

"When does the first football practise take place?" she asked him.

"In about two weeks, looking forward to it"

"I hate watching you out there, I'm convinced you're going to get broken in half"

"You've nothing to worry about, I'm far from the smallest out there".

"But remember last year, your back was covered in bruises and scars for about three weeks after one game".

"I'm still here, aren't I?", he leaned across the table and gave her a quick kiss "You have nothing to worry about".

"Still, promise me you'll be careful out there", she looked up at him, tears starting to form in her eyes "Please?"

"Hey, hey, I promise", he moved his chair over beside hers and wrapped her in an embrace. "Nothing bad is ever gonna happen to me, and that is a promise I intend to keep", rubbing his hand, soothingly, up and down her back and kissed the top of her head, "Come on, let's decide where to get dinner tonight". Mina wiped the tears from her eyes "Okay".

After finishing their coffees they both headed out holding each other's hand in firm grips. After arriving at Mina's dormitory apartment, she took out her keys and nervously turned them in the lock, Thomas gave her a reassuring smile. Opening the door they found Annie sitting on the couch one leg under the other, headphones on while scrolling through her phone. "Hey, Annie, this is Thomas", Mina only received a grunt in response.

Annie proceeded to make her way into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. "Like I told you, not much of a conversationalist".

"Ah, some people are just like that, she might warm-up eventually"

"Here's hoping".

They were interrupted when Mikasa opened the apartment door.

"Oh, hi Thomas"

"Hey, Mikasa"

Mina took notice of Mikasa's attire; a sports top, skin-tight sports shorts and sneakers "You went to the gym?", her roommate only nodded "Seemed like the only productive way to kill time".

Mikasa threw her bag into her room and grabbed a towel from her wardrobe. Mina took the minor cue and brought herself and Thomas into her room. She had just remembered she didn't have the chance to unpack yet. Once again Thomas showed little hesitation in providing assistance. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you", she asked while they began putting her things away. "Just by being you", he smiled at her while she started blushing, "Plus most guys shouldn't turn down the opportunity to go through their girlfriend's underwear",he smirked while Mina feigned disgust before flicking a pair of socks at him "Always the charmer, Tom-Tom".

After unpacking everything they came back out to the living area, Mikasa was sitting on the couch, having changed into fresh clothes and a towel wrapped on top of her head whilst flicking through channels on the apartment's TV before settling on a rerun of _NCIS: LA._ "Has Annie left her room yet?", Mina asked her.

"Nope"

Mina sighed, "Oh well, do you've plans for later, Thomas and I are heading out for dinner soon?"

"I'm meeting Eren and Armin for dinner in a few hours"

"How are the guys settling in?", Thomas asked her.

"Eren's rooming with a couple of competitive jocks while Armin appears to be making new friends already", the stoicness in her voice still prominent.

"Make sure to give the guys my best"

"Will do".

"We're going to head out on the town, I'll see you later tonight, make sure to send my regards to both Eren and Armin", Mina added.

Mikasa nodded "Have fun you two".

"We always do", both of them left the apartment.

* * *

Armin had accepted Connie's offer to accompany him and Marco to lunch with little forethought, he wasn't an introvert by nature but he was always shy when meeting new people. Connie had arranged for the three of them to have lunch with a friend of his and her roommate in the college bar.

Entering the bar, Connie scanned around until he found Sasha and her roommate waiting for them at a table, "This way guys" leading Armin and Marco over to the table. Sasha stood up to greet the three boys. "Alright guys, this is Sasha, we've been friends since middle-school". Marco offered his hand "Marco Bodt"

"Oh, put that away", she let out a small laugh "Come here" and wrapped Marco in a tight hug, "And, you?" she asked, turning to Armin.

"Armin Arlert", he barely managed to get out before Sasha engulfed him in a bear hug.

"Okay, Sasha don't break him", Connie called to her.

"He'll be fine", she released her grip on the short blonde

"Care to introduce us to your friend?", Connie gestured to the little blonde girl standing next to the table.

"Oh, guys this is Historia", Historia gave a small wave and a warm smile "Historia, these three are Connie, Mark and Armin"

"Marco", he corrected her.

"Haha sorry, I was close enough though wasn't I?"

"That you were". All five of them took their seats and began to order.

Ten minutes later they were all tucking into their food and breaking the ice with each other. "So do you plan on starting at Quarterback when the season starts?", Sasha asked Marco, stealing one of Connie's fries in the process.

"Hopefully, the starting Quarterback is in his last year so if I'm not starting this year, I won't have to wait too long."

On the other end of the table Armin and Historia were busy getting to know each other. "Nursing, is that what you said?" he asked her.

"Yep, and what about you Armin?"

Armin was taken aback by the genuine interest shown by Historia, it didn't help that her smile and bright blue eyes were starting to make him blush as well .

"History and Political Science, I'm a bit of a nerd for that sort of stuff"

"Really, I don't consider that nerdy"

"Seriously?"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of in studying something you have a passion for why waste a mind as intelligent as yours on something trivial"

"Oh, t-that's very kind of you, thank you Historia", he could feel his cheeks turning crimson.

"Easy there, tiger, she has a girlfriend", Connie called from across the table, it was Historia's turn to blush. Sasha started giggling "Don't embarrass them, Connie".

"Whatever", he began reaching for one of her onion rings and received a literal slap on the wrist for his troubles.

"Here, have mine, they'll go to waste otherwise" Marco pushed his plate towards Connie.

"Thanks"

"No problem".

Armin took a quick look at his phone, he still had another two and a half hours until he had to meet Eren and Mikasa for dinner. He made sure not to overindulge at lunch and only ordered a serving of chicken-wings. He was thankful at how easy this social arrangement had been and felt silly for his earlier nervousness.

"Well, I need to go and collect some stationary", Connie stood up and left cash to cover both his meal and the tip, "Pleasure to meet you Historia".

"You too", she nodded.

"I'll see you guys later", gesturing to Marco and Armin.

"Sure thing, I might be a little late coming in later, so apologies in advance if I make a ruckus", said Armin

"See you then Roomie", Marco offered a hand.

Connie met Marco's hand with his signature iron grip and headed off. Armin turned to Historia "Sorry about that".

She only smiled at him "Don't worry about it, it's not like you can control the actions of your roommate, I have to apologise on behalf of Ymir more often than not", she blushed suddenly.

Marco turned to her "Sorry, who's Ymir?"

"That would be me, pretty boy".

Armin and Marco turned around to the source of the voice and saw a tall bronze-skinned brunette standing behind them. Sasha started twirling her hair between her fingers.

"What are you doing here?", Historia was still blushing.

"Anything wrong with a gal enjoying a cold drink in the student bar?", she turned to both Marco and Armin "I see you're making new friends already".

"That's Marco and that's Armin, and you already know Sasha"

"Of course, sorry about threatening you earlier, but if you didn't take the hint I'm Mama Bear", she pointed to Historia "And that's my cub".

Sasha managed to find a smile "Don't worry about it", letting out a nervous laugh.

"Care to join us?", Historia asked her.

"Well, drinking at the bar alone did look promising, but sure why not"

Armin took his plate and began to move to Connie's spot. "You don't need to do that", Ymir said to him. "It's no issue, really", he smiled at her.

Ymir only shrugged "If you insist".

Despite having just met her, Marco and Armin were soon laughing with Ymir as she recounted some of her high-school pranks.

"Seriously, chili powder?", Marco managed to force through laughter

"Oh you should have seen it, the entire cheerleading squad doubling over and hardly able to stand up during a pep rally".

"Did they ever find out it was you?", Sasha giggled

"I may have let it slip during graduation"

"It wasn't even your best prank", Historia suddenly started giggling "Tell them about the intercom."

"Okay, so the vice principal left her office wide open one day and the secretary had gone off somewhere", she started grinning "So I went inside opened up spotify on the desktop, using a different account, and turned on a makeshift playlist and pointed the intercom to the desktop speakers."

"That's not all", Historia turned her head to the other three at the table "She then locked the door and literally threw away the key."

"Do you remember which songs were on the playlist?", Armin asked Ymir.

"Oh, there were all kinds of songs on there, I was tempted to keep _Gangnam Style_ on an endless loop, but then I would have to listen to it, so _Avenged Sevenfold_ came on along with _Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Eminem_ and even _Rammstein_ made an appearance.

"Wait how long did it take for them to open the door?", Marco asked her.

"Since the only other person with a key, the principal, went home, it took a solid hour until they got the door open, and no I wasn't caught but they suspected me more than a little."

Armin checked his phone again, he still had another hour to kill but decided to head back to his room and get ready. "I'm going to head off, I need to get ready to meet some friends for dinner later on".

"Are we not your friends?", Sasha grinned while raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, I hope you're not cheating on us already", Ymir smirked.

"Ah, leave him alone, have fun Armin", Marco offered his hand.

"Will do", Armin met his hand "I might see you later if you're still up by then".

Armin paid for his meal, left the group and headed back to his dorm.

(A/N: All characters are property of Hajime Isayama. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome. Apologies for the delay in updating the story, I didn't expect to have so little free time over the past week. I'm hoping to finish the introduction this coming week before finally moving onto the meat of the story)


	5. Drinks

Marco hung around after Ymir, Historia and Sasha had left the bar. He had already sent a text to Jean to meet him there for drinks. He was starting to get a little worried as he had sent the text half an hour ago and still no reply. His worries were soon found to be exaggerated upon seeing Jean walk through the doors of the bar.

"Hey, you had me worried for a second, everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry man, it was that burrito from earlier, I knew something was off about it"

"You still ate it though", he laughed "You sure you okay for drinking?"

"I'm fine, I've been through the worst of it".

They both ordered their drinks and began to kick back.

Over the next few hours they drank steadily and discussed their first day with each other.

"So, you've a roommate from Shiganshina too?"

"Yeah, Eren Jaeger, guy sure has confidence in himself"

"And that doesn't remind you of anyone?"

"Nah, even you can be humble when you need to be"

Marco rolled his eyes "Sure, whatever you say", he began fidgeting with the coaster in his hands "I wonder if he'll start for the team, I know the Scouts have been looking for a starting running-back for a few years now, maybe this Jaeger guy might be their answer."

"I know I've the starting Corner position in the bag"

"Oh really, Kirschstein", Marco and Jean turned to the source of the unexpected voice.

Jean recognised the voice before he even turned around, Reiner Braun stood with his arms crossed accompanied by an even taller boy and short girl with a disinterested look on her face. "Marco, this the other roommate I told you about, Reiner Braun"

"Marco Bodt", he offered his hand

Reiner nodded and greeted his hand "That there is Bertholdt and Little Miss Sunshine here is Annie"

"A pleasure", Bertholdt offered his hand to both Jean and Marco.

"Likewise", they both said to him.

"Why don't we move this party to a more spacious area", Reiner brought them to a booth in the corner of the room. Reiner took a seat and sat at the edge of the booth, Annie and Bertholdt sat together on one side while Marco and Jean sat on the other. While the four boys had no problem breaking the ice and conversing, Annie hardly said a word, something that did not go unnoticed by Marco.

"Everything okay?" he asked her.

"Sure", her expression didn't change.

"You won't get much conversation out of her", Reiner interjected, Annie just gave him a look.

"Well, no harm in trying, what do you study Annie?"

"Finance"

"Oh, do you plan on working in the financial sector"

"Seems like the only logical thing to do".

Jean decided to join the conversation "So, what made you decide to come all the way to Trost to study?"

"I wanted to, why did you decide to stay in Trost to study?"

Jean was stumped, he hadn't anticipated her to answer with a question of her own, "Well it was the only scholarship offer that made sense, I guess, and I suppose I wanted to as well".

Bertholdt tapped his fingers on his glass of beer, "At least she's trying, somewhat", he thought to himself.

"So, Marco you reckon you'll be targeting Bertholdt a lot on the field?", Reiner asked him.

"I guess, he's not easy to miss is he?"

Bertholdt only laughed "You're the second person I've met today who's brought up my height, it's not like any of you guys are short either".

"Yeah, but we can at least walk through the doorway without ducking", Jean deadpanned.

The whole table erupted with laughter and even Annie couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"Ah, so you can smile", Marco raised an eyebrow at her.

"And?", her facial expression had returned to what it was previously, Marco only raised his hands concedingly.

A few minutes later, Jean fell out of the booth. "Okay, I think I should get you back to the dorm", Marco helped his friend up.

"I'm fine", he slurred while letting out a hiccup.

"I'll see you guys around", Marco slung Jean's arm over his shoulder.

"Sure thing, need any help with party animal over there, I am his roommate after all?"

"I can manage don't let me disrupt the rest of your night, Reiner"

"If you insist"

Marco began the trek to Jean's dorm while the other three went back to conversing.

Marco was starting to regret not accepting Reiner's assistance as he climbed the stairs with his drunken friend in tow.

"I'm fine, why didn't y-you let me stay a little longer", Jean managed to slur through hiccups.

"If you could hear yourself now you would understand why, okay we're here", Marco took Jean's key and opened the door. He brought Jean over to his bed and lay him down.

"I'll see you tomorrow", Jean had already drifted off to sleep.

Marco took a look at his phone, it was just after ten o'clock, he decided to head back to his dorm. He saw Connie was still up, watching TV.

"Hey, what did you get up to after I left?"

"I just went for drinks with a friend and then his roommate with _his_ friends showed up, I just got back from bringing him back to his room"

"That drunk, huh?"

"Could hardly stand", he scanned the room "Armin not back yet?"

"I literally just got a text from him there", Connie took out his phone "Said he's about ten minutes out"

"Got the same text", he put his phone away "What are you watching?"

"Death Note, I've heard good things about it, so I figured why not"

"Cool, I'm tuckered out so I'm heading to bed"

"Do you need me to turn it down?"

"Nah, at this rate I'd sleep through a drone strike"

"Alright then, 'night"

"Good night".


	6. Dinner

Armin was so absorbed in his book that he hadn't noticed Mikasa and Eren walking up to him.

"Oh, hey", he put the book away.

"Really, how can you even read in these conditions?"

"When you're fully engrossed in a story nothing can distract you from it, Eren"

"Is that why you didn't notice us calling you from across the way?"

"Oh", he started rubbing the back of his neck "Sorry".

"Ah, don't worry about it, let's head inside, I'm starving"

About half an hour later the three friends were tucking into their meal. "So, how was your first day in college, Armin?", Mikasa asked him.

"Oh, it went off without a hitch, went for lunch with my roommates, they're both on football scholarships like Eren.

"What did you do to deserve _two_ jocks as roommates?"

"Hey", Eren piped up, his mouth full of beef

"They're fine, really, Connie's very outgoing and Marco's very polite, far from your typical jocks".

"Well, that's nice to hear, maybe they could teach Eren a thing or two"

"And how are your roommates, Mikasa?"

"Well, Mina Carolina is one" she noticed Armin blush a little, she had almost forgotten that Armin had a crush on her until a few years ago, "Both her and Thomas send their regards to both of you".

"And what about the other one, Annie Leonard, wasn't it?", Eren's mouth was no longer full.

"Leonhardt", she corrected him, "Not exactly a warm person"

"You two, should get along no problem then- OW", Mikasa flicked him behind the ear.

Armin laughed, "Twice in one day, you've only yourself to blame there, buddy".

"Whatever", he grumbled while rubbing his ear, "So, you guys figured out which clubs and societies to join, tomorrow?"

"Between football and medical studies I doubt you'll have much time for other activities", she replied.

"I guess I'll join the college paper", Armin replied "It might help me to decide if a career in journalism is worth it"

"Hey, why don't you sign up for the football team, Armin?", he asked him.

Armin swallowed his drink the wrong way and started coughing, "W-what?", he sputtered between coughs.

"You were actually pretty decent when we played before high-school"

"My grandfather won't have any of it, I had one concussion and he said; no more, besides I'm not exactly built to play college football."

"You don't have to have size", Mikasa interjected, taking a sip of her drink "Just guts, which you have more than you give yourself credit for"

Eren nodded "Why not try out for kicker or punter, you played soccer until recently, maybe that might help you?"

"I don't know", he started fidgeting with his thumbs again but stopped as soon as Mikasa gave him a disapproving look.

"Promise me you'll at least go to one practice, if you don't like it you don't have to try again, and we'll no longer discuss it, please?", Eren made eye contact with Armin,

"Fine", he sighed.

Mikasa reached across the table and took his hand in hers "You need to have more faith in yourself"

"I know, I'll try to", he turned to Eren "Sign me up".

The three of them walked back to their dorms together, it had gotten a lot darker since they entered the restaurant nearly three hours ago. Armin noticed that it was a cloudless night and the stars were clearly visible, if he was lucky he might be able to catch a glimpse of the Orion Nebula with his binoculars once he got back to his room.

Eren and Mikasa walked together hand-in-hand, she had her head leaning closely to his shoulder while her signature red scarf was pulled up to her chin. Armin didn't mind tagging along with them, to their credit they had never made him feel like he was third-wheeling and rarely displayed affection around him when all three were together like this. Being friends for nearly a decade obviously had some role in that, he thought to himself. Since the boys' dormitory was first up Armin said goodnight to Mikasa while giving her a quick hug, he was one of the few people she allowed to do so, and she reciprocated.

Eren went off to escort her back to her dorm. "I meant what I said earlier man, make an honest effort, at least", he called after Armin who sighed in return "Got it, goodnight Eren, see you tomorrow". He made his way indoors and noticed that the maintenance team had just finished fixing the elevator, he saw the humour in the fact that it was now working after he had brought his burdensome luggage to his room via four flights of stairs earlier that day.

He opened the apartment to see Connie fighting off sleep while watching TV. "Hey buddy, how'd the rest of your day go" he stifled a yawn.

"Ah, without incident, the way I like it, are you watching Death Note?"

"Yeah, care to watch it with me?"

"I would if I hadn't already read the manga and seen the anime twice already"

Connie jokingly raised his hands "Whoa, look out everyone, he's hardcore"

Armin let out a small laugh "Is Marco here?"

"Yeah, he's in bed he had to escort his drunk friend back to his room"

"Sounds like my high-school graduation", he went into his room and brought out his binoculars.

"You're not going to perv on the girls are ya?", Connie started laughing

"I wish, I'm going to get a look at some of the constellations", he began to open the sliding door that led to the balcony.

"Ah, enjoy all the same".

The apartment's balcony wasn't anything special, there was barely enough room for the chair Armin brought out. Scanning through his binoculars he did his best to find the Orion Nebula. He was about to give up when he found it; the constellation's colours shone brightly velvet blue mingled with the flaming orange turning the surrounding blackness into a deep purple. His grandfather was something of an amatuer astronomer and taught Armin how to set up and use a telescope. Those quiet summer nights, with his grandfather, in the hills surrounding Shiganshina, looking up at the night sky were some of his fondest childhood memories, he had even brought his grandfather's book on astronomy with him to Trost.

Tiredness began to creep up on Armin and he put the binoculars down to rub the sleep from his eyes. As he was readjusting his binoculars he noticed a figure on one of the balconies of the girls' dormitory some 150 yards away. He took a quick look through his binoculars to see who it was; a girl sat on a chair her head resting on the arms that were also resting on the ledge of the balcony. Platinum-blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun with her bangs obscuring the right side of her face, she had what would be called a 'Roman' nose, long and slender, but what caught his attention were her pale-blue eyes. They had an intensity about them that betrayed the stoic, disinterested look on her face.

Armin felt an odd sensation that started in his stomach and worked its way up to his chest. His breathing became heavier and his palms became sweaty. His heart leaped into his mouth when he suddenly noticed she was looking right at him, causing him to drop the binoculars. How long had he been staring at her, more importantly how long had she seen him staring at her? "Smooth one Arlert, made yourself look like the biggest creep in front of a pretty, no beautiful, girl", he muttered to himself under his breath. He went back inside with the chair and shut the balcony doors. "What's up, you look like you saw a ghost?", Connie managed to snap Armin out of his little trance.

"Nothing, just a little tired, I thought I saw something, I'm off to bed, goodnight Connie"

"G'night".

Annie had stepped onto the balcony to get some air, she was always more of an outdoors person despite coming from the largest city on the country's west coast. She enjoyed the last of the summer breeze as it blew through her hair in the tranquil night. She had noticed someone from the boys' dormitory step onto the balcony with binoculars in hand.

She became fixated on him as he turned the binoculars to the sky, she turned her attention to the cats making noise in the dumpster below for a second. She turned her head back up and noticed the boy was looking at her through the binoculars. He had noticed she was staring back at him causing him to drop them "Gee, am I really that intimidating", she said to herself. She had gotten a chance to take a look at his features, despite the distance she could make out a mop of blonde hair, sort of a coconut-shaped haircut, a small button nose and big blue eyes. "He's kinda cute, actually", she thought to herself, she didn't get a chance to look at him much longer as he headed back inside.

She took a look at her watch and decided she should turn in for the night too. As she lay down on her bed, her mind was still focused on the cute little blonde boy on the balcony. There was an odd sensation in her stomach, something she had never felt before while beads of sweat began to form on her chest, what the hell was going on? She had never shown much of an interest in, well anyone, boy or girl, Reiner and Bertholdt would be considered attractive but they were more like big brothers to her as well as her friends, and Bert was gay of course. Why now, though? Her questions would have to wait until morning as she drifted of to a somewhat peaceful sleep.

( **A/N: Okay, so I've managed to complete the introduction to the story. Thank you so much for the encouragement from reviews, again you're allowed to criticise as well as praise, so don't be afraid to do so. I'm hoping to begin developing the story further; I have the ending already figured out at this point, it's just about figuring out how to get there. While EreMika (Eren x Mikasa) and Aruani (Armin x Annie) will be the focal point other AoT/SnK ships will begin to appear as the story progresses. I'm planning to add more canon characters later on while the Football Team plot should begin in the next few chapters, hope to begin 'Part Two' of this story this week and hopefully have at least two of those chapters up by next Monday.)**


	7. Disruption

**Part 2: Settling In**

 _2 weeks later:_

Armin jumped out of bed as soon as he saw the time on his bedside clock; 8.50 a.m, his class would start in 10 minutes. "Shit, must've forgotten to set the alarm", he grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe and got changed, he didn't have time for a shower so his deodorant would have to suffice.

Connie and Marco were still eating breakfast as Armin rushed out of his bedroom door. "Everything okay, man?", Marco asked him

"Running late, my class starts in ten minutes"

"Don't let us delay you, I'd say have fun but it's statistics after all", said Connie

"Sure, I'll see you guys later", he rushed out the door to his class.

To his credit Armin had taken the time to memorise the various locations of his classes over the past week. His 'Statistics 101' class was one that he chose, to fulfil his course credit requirements, it meant that he would be grouped in with all kinds of majors. He would only be five minutes late, hopefully he could slip into the lecture without creating too much attention.

As he crept inside the theatre he noticed there was only one seat left. He breathed a sigh of relief as the lecturer took no notice of his tardiness, the same could not be said for the person sitting next to him. As he took his pencil case out of his bag he dropped one of his pens. He was about to reach down for it when it appeared in a hand right in front of him; "Here", said the hand's owner.

"Thanks", he looked up and his heart stopped in his chest, he was looking at the girl he was spying upon when he was on the balcony last week.

"Don't mention it", her voice had a deadpan tone, not unlike Mikasa's, her expression remained uninterested but Armin could make out the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

As the lecture went on Armin did his best to keep his attention fixed on what was in front of him, doing everything in his power to avoid looking at the girl to his right. This would be the longest 40 minutes of his life.

Annie could not believe that fate would play a game with her like this. The boy who caught her attention last week and was the source of her late night sweats, and butterflies in her stomach was now in the same class as her. She caught a sly peek at his face now that she was physically closer to him than when she first saw him. She still found him cute but he definitely looked a lot more youthful, almost boyish and not a hint of any facial hair. She made sure she wasn't being obvious when peeking at him.

As the lecturer signaled the end of the session Armin made his way out of the theatre as quick as he could without running. Why did he have to be late, why was that girl in his class, and why did she have to be the one sitting next to him? He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into a tall figure in the corridor causing him to drop his books everywhere and fall back onto his rear end. "Whoa, sorry buddy, are you okay?", the tall stranger crouched down to pick up Armin's books. Placing the books in one hand, he offered the other to assist Armin and helped pull him up. "Sorry, I'm not with it this morning" he dusted himself off and took his books from him.

"Ah, don't mention it", he looked behind Armin "Oh hey, Annie, you ready to go get coffee?"

"I guess, got nothing better to do", Armin tensed up when he heard her voice and as he turned around, time seemed to stand still. There she was AGAIN. Armin did the only thing he could do in that situation; run. "Hey pal, wait up" the boy called after him.

Bertholdt sighed as the little blond boy ran away and turned to Annie again "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing, all I did was help him pick up his pen in class when he dropped it"

"You'd swear he'd seen Pennywise in the flesh when he saw you"

Annie just shrugged "Well I didn't do anything to him"

Bertholdt laughed "Well, I think something's going on there, but we can leave that 'till later, don't worry I won't say anything to Reiner".

"Are we going or are we going to stand around here until judgement day"

"Whoa, someone's being a little poetic today"

"Shut up", she gave him a jab on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, let's go"

* * *

Eren had managed to secure a decent seat for the lecture. The lecturer, Dr. Hanji Zoe was busy setting up her presentation, bobbing her head impatiently from side to side as she waited for the computer to warm up. Eventually she opened up her Powerpoint presentation and fidgeted with her portable microphone to get it placed onto her shirt. "GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!", she had unknowingly shouted into the microphone and feedback rung in both Eren and the other students' ears. "Sorry, I can never get used to using this poopy thing", she pointed to the mic, "Anyway, if any of you were still half-asleep, you should be awake now".

She started to pace around the stage in front of the huge projector screen. "So, welcome to pre-med 101", she started flicking through the slides "Let me introduce myself, my name is Hanji Zoe, I'm a doctor in Trost University Hospital, specialising in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, and I still somehow have time to lecture the next great medicinal minds of your generation". As the lecture went on she went through the various details of the module's admin. She had started to move on to the course material. Eren found it hard to ignore her eccentricity, but she was fiercely intelligent and was clearly passionate about her love of medicine.

Eren had scribbled his notes furiously over the course of the lecture but was satisfied that he found them readable, it's not like anyone else would be using his notes anyway. After the lecture ended he went up to Dr. Zoe to make sure nothing was amiss in his notes. She was more than happy to help fill in any information gaps, she seemed to be taken aback by the young man's interest in the subject. "Anyway, if there's any confusion just shoot me an email, make sure it's the college email though, with the module code as the subject".

"Will do, thanks Dr. Zoe"

"Please call me Hanji, only my patients call me that", she beamed at him.

Eren nodded and headed off. He took a look at his timetable, which he downloaded to his phone, it looked like he had a full day of academics as he still had another 7 hours of classes to get to.

He sent a text to Mikasa: "HEY BABE, MY ENTIRE DAY IS FILLED WITH CLASSES...I'M FREE AGAIN AT 6 IF YOU WANT ME TO COME OVER TO YOURS OR YOU TO MINE". He was tempted to add an emoji but he knew she would tease him about until their dying days so opted against it. He got a text back "SURE THING...I'll COME OVER TO YOURS". "Well at least I've one thing to look forward to today", he thought to himself, he put the phone away and headed to his next class.

* * *

Historia hit the snooze button on the alarm and wriggled out of Ymir's embrace. Ymir rarely slept in her own dorm, she usually crept into Historia and Sasha's when the dorm supervisors changed shifts, being able to pick locks was no small help either.

Historia threw a pillow at Ymir "Come on get up, you don't want us to be late for class, do you?"

"Five more minutes", she groaned while burying her face into the pillow. Historia rolled her eyes and started tapping on the heel of her girlfriend's foot.

"Hey, cut that out, you know I'm ticklish there"

"Why do you think I did it then?", she raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah", she sat up, grabbed her, and pulled her onto her lap "I think you need to be punished for that", she bent her over her knee and playfully started spanking her. "Stop", Historia struggled to say through laughter, "We'll wake Sasha"

"No, you will if you don't stop giggling", they got their answer when they heard movement in the living area.

Sasha rubbed the sleep from her eyes and walked over to the fridge taking out a pack of eggs. She stifled a yawn as she reached for the chorizo and peppers " 'Morning roomie", a voice said from behind causing her to jump. She turned around to see Ymir sitting at the kitchen table. "Oh hi", she blushed as she just remembered that she was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of panties. She pulled her t-shirt down to cover her modesty "Relax I've only seen your ass half a dozen times since yesterday", Ymir smirked at her. Sasha's face had turned an even darker shade of red, "Why does she do this to me", she thought to herself.

Historia came into the living area, "Good morning Sasha, sleep okay?"

"Fine, thank you Historia", remembering why she came into the kitchen "Do you guys want an omelette?"

"Sure thing, I'm starved", she noticed Historia glare at her a little, arms crossed "Please?"

"No problem", she started chopping the chorizo and noticed Historia had come over and started chopping the peppers.

"This is the life, my girl and her roomie making breakfast for me"

"Since you're over there why don't you set the table?" Historia gave her a smile.

"All that work on an empty stomach, really are the slave-driver aren't you shorty?", she mock fainted.

"Pretty please", she fluttered her eyelashes at her

"Well, since you asked nicely"

Sasha brought their plates over to the table, enticing spices danced around Historia's and Ymir's nostrils, Ymir even caught herself drooling a little. At the first bite of her omelette Ymir's eyes lit up "Holy shit, who taught you how to cook like this?"

"My mom, I've picked up a few tricks over the years, but you should try hers, she uses fresh eggs and herbs that we have on our farm"

"Remind me to pay your folks a visit, I need physical proof that any omelette could be better than this"

"Thank you, it would be nice to have a few visitors over for breakfast", she let her country accent slip out for a second.

"Be careful what you wish for", Historia said as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Someone's sassy this morning", Ymir squeezed her thigh causing Historia to sputter on her coffee "Cut that out", she gave Ymir a small kick to her calf.

Sasha began to clear the table and once again Historia rushed over to help her "It's fine go get ready for class, I can manage"

"You sure?"

Sasha flexed her toned bicep "Years of growing up on a farm means doing the dishes is nothing for me".

"Leave her alone, babe don't be a kiss-ass"

Historia stuck her tongue out between her lips at her "I guess I'll have a shower then"

"Care for me to join you?", Ymir had a cheeky glint in her eyes.

"Ymir, no"

"Oh you're no fun"

Historia grabbed a towel from her bedroom and headed into the bathroom.

Sasha started to do the dishes as Ymir headed back into the bedroom. Ymir turned on the radio on her phone she noticed Sasha bend over to take the washing-up liquid out from under the sink. She didn't hesitate to take a peek at Sasha's smooth and toned legs in the process. The radio played as the three girls went about their routine. "Does your roommate even know you exist?" Sasha asked Ymir over the noise of the radio.

"Ah, Hitch has no issue, sure she has the whole dorm to herself at times, I wouldn't complain if I were in her situation."

"I suppose, don't take it that I don't appreciate your presence here though, you add a bit of humour"

Ymir laughed "You need to get laid, girl"

Sasha returned her laughter, albeit nervously "Not high on my priorities at the moment"

"Waiting for that special someone, eh?"

"My lips are sealed", she mimicked zipping her mouth shut.

"Ooh, a challenge, I'll get it out of you eventually, country-girl".

They were interrupted by Historia who exited the bathroom, draped in a towel. Ymir playfully tugged at the towel as she walked by her

"Don't _you_ dare!", Historia wagged her finger at her.

Ymir laughed as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Sasha waited until she could hear the water running from the shower "You two are literally the definition of 'opposites attract' ".

"I know, we're both two sides of the same coin" Historia turned on the TV and settled on a random news channel and went back to her room to get dressed.

Sasha's phone pinged and she picked it up to see who texted her this early; Connie, of course: "I CAN SMELL YOUR OMELETTE FROM OVER HERE, ANY LEFT?". She texted back "SORRY, FRESH OUT"

"I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN THEN"

"DON'T BURN THE DORM DOWN (laughing cry emoji)"

"PUT THE FIRE BRIGADE ON STANDBY"

Sasha let out a small giggle "What's so funny?" Historia asked her coming out of her bedroom while brushing her long blonde hair.

"Oh, just my friend, he's planning on making his breakfast, so hopefully they won't need to evacuate the boys' dormitory"

"You're harsh", she giggled.

"No, he's very honest about his lack of culinary skills"

"Oh, come on being compared to you isn't very fair now, is it?"

"Thank you, but believe me, my ma is way better", her country accent became more pronounced.

After Ymir got out of the shower and got dressed both her and Historia headed off to class. Sasha checked her phone; it was still only 8.30 and her first class didn't start until 11.00, she had finishing washing the dishes and decided to watch a bit of TV before getting ready.

Ymir and Historia only had to make a short walk to their lecture as the building was situated not 200 yards from the girls' dormitory. They began to find their seats as the theatre filled up. "Do we have to sit so close to the front?" Ymir groaned, "Yes, if we want to make sure we learn anything", Historia smiled up at her.

"Whatever you say", they both took their seats.

* * *

Armin had managed to go back to his dorm to have a shower since his next class wasn't for another couple of hours. Marco was still there so they both decided to head to their class together: Politics 101. Having found seats near the front of the lecture, Armin took notice of the person who took a seat next to them "Hey, Armin".

"Oh, Thomas, hi, are you studying politics as well?"

"Economics, actually, I took this module to get enough credits"

"Oh, anyway, this is Marco, we're both roommates"

"Pleased to meet you", Marco leaned across Armin to offer his hand

"Likewise, Armin and I went to high-school together"

"Really, I could've sworn that I heard a Trost accent there, for a second"

"Your ears aren't fooling you, I moved to Shiganshina from here when I was 14, it's not an easy accent to lose."

Their conversation came to a close as the lecturer began the session, she introduced herself as Rico Brzenska. Armin thought she looked rather young to be a lecturer but received clarification when she announced that she was a final year PhD student in the political science department.

She gave a break-down into how the module worked, her colleague, Ian Dietrich, would take over from her in the next semester. For the most part the lecture covered the admin of the module while also specifying what the module would cover "Please forgive me, In my personal opinion, this module is very broad and doesn't give us a lot of leeway to work with in terms of expanding on material, but trust me; once you get through this module the material in political science gets a lot more interesting as you progress."

Armin was taking notes down in his pocket diary when he felt his phone vibrate in his bag. He took a sly look to see who the text was from; Mikasa: "EREN IS IN CLASSES UNTIL 6, DO YOU WANT TO GO GET LUNCH TOGETHER...IF YOU'RE NOT TOO BUSY?"

He texted back; "SURE I'M DONE FOR THE DAY AFTER THIS CLASS"

"COOL...NOODLE BAR IN 1 HOUR THEN?"

"SURE."

Marco and Thomas mock tutted as Armin put his phone back into his bag. After the class finished he let the two of them know of his arrangement "Hey don't let us keep you", Marco told him. "No worries, see you later Marco", he ran off to meet up with Mikasa.

Mikasa was waiting for him at a table near the window, in a rare sight she had removed her signature red scarf. She greeted him with a wave as he came in. "Hey Mika, how's psychology treating you?"

"Fairly enough, picture the intensity of a medical course with the timetable of a humanities student"

"I guess that means plenty of time in the library?"

"You know it", she deadpanned, but he was aware that she was being light-hearted.

As they worked through their respective orders they each caught up with how their day had went.

"It's not like you to forget something so crucial as to set your alarm"

"I know, I've only myself to blame, reading until 1 a.m definitely didn't help"

"Armin you know you shouldn't miss sleep, even intelligent people like yourself don't function correctly without it"

"I know that, but isn't losing sleep part and parcel of a college student's life?"

Mikasa rolled her eyes "Yes, but through socialising and assignments not reading until the witching hour...are you okay?", Armin had turned his head in, away from the window and covered the side of his face with his hand.

Mikasa noticed Annie walk by the window, earbuds embedded in her head, a book held tightly against her chest and her eyes conveying a steely determination. After about a minute Armin returned to his original position. "Care to tell me what that was about?", she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Eh, nothing sun got in my eyes"

"Armin, the sun's in the opposite direction", she still hadn't lowered her eyebrow.

"There was a glare from the building facing it"

Mikasa wasn't satisfied but knew she wouldn't get a straight answer from him "Sure, whatever you say".

They managed to get through the rest of their lunch without any further awkwardness. Mikasa looked at her watch "This was nice, the last thing I wanted to do was look like the saddo in the corner eating their lunch alone"

"Ah come on, don't act like you don't enjoy the peace of people ignoring you, and what is it you once said 'the smaller your circle, the greater its value' ".

Mikasa laughed "It's not even mine, something my grandmother once said, and I enjoy being with you and Eren"

"Don't mention it, do you've somewhere you need to be?"

"Not exactly, just thought I'd head back to the dorm and veg and then maybe hit the gym when it quietens down"

"Don't let me keep you"

"You sure?"

"It's fine I was going to head to the library after this anyway"

Mikasa shrugged, "Don't work yourself too hard, and best of luck in football practise tomorrow, I'll make sure Eren keeps you safe"

Armin had almost forgotten, "Oh, y-yeah thanks".

Armin sunk back into his chair after she left, how had he forgotten, how was he going to get through it? He had no business on a football field, he was at Trost on an academic scholarship and he would be practising with some of the most talented youth players in the country, Eren included. He placed his hand on the table and was surprised to feel something silky, he looked down and saw his hand was resting on Mikasa's signature scarf, arguably her most prized possession, Eren had given it to her when they first met after he saved her from the kidnappers nearly ten years ago. He sent her a quick text to let her know and told her he'd drop it off to her room.

After Mikasa texted him the directions he headed off. Mikasa's dorm was only a few paces from the elevator after he got off on her floor. He wasn't expecting Mina to open the door to him, "Armin", she wrapped him in a hug "Long time, no see", she stepped back "Wow Mikasa was right, you did grow, you're taller than me now"

He rubbed the back of his neck "Eh, thanks I guess, is Mikasa still here"

"Sure thing I'll get her now" she skipped off to Mikasa's room.

Armin noticed the bathroom door of the apartment open and his jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw who walked out. "I don't believe it", he thought to himself, the mysterious blonde girl, was Mikasa's roommate. " _How could I have been so blind"_ , he thought to himself " _That really tall guy addressed her as Annie earlier, and didn't Mikasa say her other roommate was called; **Annie Leonhardt** , and wasn't she known for being a little emotionless_". She had noticed him and stopped dead in her tracks, her expression was stone-faced but her eyes were wide.

" _What the fucking hell_?", Annie thought to herself, did both her and the little blonde boy have some magnetic pull to one another?. Their uncomfortable silence was broken when Mina and Mikasa stepped into the room. "Oh, Armin this is Annie our other roommate", she turned to Annie "Armin is a friend of Mikasa's"

"Eh, h-hi", he rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to avoid fidgeting with his thumbs and he struggled to make eye contact with her.

"Hello, Armin", she spoke with a low deep voice in a monotonous tone.

Armin suddenly remembered why he came here in the first place "Your scarf", he handed it to Mikasa.

"After all these years, you would think this is the last thing I would forget"

"Funny, right", he let out a small nervous laugh, just his luck to be in the same room as his high-school crush and the girl who had invaded his dreams over the past week.

Mikasa eyed both her roommate and her friend, the incident at lunch earlier all made sense now.

"Well I best be off", Armin began to walk out the door.

"Won't you stay?", Mina asked him "I made tea"

"Um, well I-"

"You said you needed to go to the library earlier, right Armin?"

"Oh yeah, I did", he nearly breathed a sigh of relief, thank God Mikasa had his back "Thanks for the offer Mina, maybe some other time", he had regained some of his composure.

"Oh well, looking forward to it, don't expect the same excuse to work next time though, have fun, studying"

Armin let out a heavy sigh as he closed the door behind him and noticed his phone buzz. "YOU'RE WELCOME", Mikasa had texted him, Armin rushed to the elevator not looking back lest he somehow catch a glimpse of the mysterious Annie Leonhardt for the fifth time in one day.

"Such a kind-hearted boy, any girl would be lucky to have him", Mina said after Armin had closed the door. Annie stomped into her room and slammed the door. "What's her problem?" she turned to Mikasa, who only shrugged, "Like I would know".

Annie collapsed on her bed and buried her head in a pillow. Her breathing became more laboured and she felt tears begin to run down her cheeks. _Am I really crying_?, she thought to herself. She remembered how her father had practically forbade her from crying and it had been so long since she last did that she didn't remember the reason why on that occasion.

She waited until she heard Mina and Mikasa leave the living area and made her way back to the bathroom. She splashed hot water on her face to disguise the evidence that she had been crying. "How can a skinny, little, blonde boy make me cry and ten broken bones not?", she muttered to herself. She went back to her room and grabbed her gym bag, perhaps working out would help take her mind off of him, she hoped. She left the apartment, as usual, without saying a word, despite Mina calling after her.


	8. The Scouts

Coach Erwin Smith stood tall and proud near the bleachers of the practise field as he watched the players get ready. This was only his second year as head coach after serving two years as the team's offensive coordinator. Mike Zacharias, the team's special teams coordinator came up beside him "Still wishing you were out there with them?"

Erwin let out a small chuckle "Sometimes, but I've been retired from football for four years now"

Mike nodded, he was well aware of Erwin's circumstances, he had been the quarterback for The Scouts a decade and a half ago and then played twelve seasons in the the National League before injuries cut his playing career short. Mike had played with the TCU Scouts in his college days too, but opted against a professional playing career. He had gotten into coaching five years ago as the head coach of the local high-school team until he had gotten a call from his former teammate, Erwin, last year.

"What are you two ladies gossiping about?", they both turned to see Levi Ackerman, standing next to them. At first glance Levi Ackerman did not look like someone who had just retired from the National league; he was short no more than 5'5", athletic but not well built, which made it harder to believe he played such a punishing position as running-back. Erwin stunned national pundits when he chose Levi as the team's new offensive coordinator despite no previous coaching experience.

"A bright ray of sunshine you are Levi", Mike snorted at him

"Settle down", Erwin's stern but calm voice commanded them, he then ordered all rookies to form lines into different rows. Mike and Levi both knew what was coming next.

Armin and Eren stood next to each other as they saw a very tall, bald man with piercing eyes make his way towards the rookies. "My name is Keith Shadis, and you will grow to hate me", he barked "I'm the team's defensive coordinator, but you will address me as either coach or sir, do you understand that?"

"Sir", all the rookies did the signature salute of the university; right arm over their left breast and left arm behind their back.

He began to make his way through the rows before reaching Armin "You, Mop-Top."

"Sir."

"What do they call you, pipsqueak?"

"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina High-School, Sir."

"What the hell kind of a name is that, your parents try to turn you into a target as soon as you were born?"

"I-it was my grandfather sir"

"I don't remember there being more than two scholarships from Shiganshina High School, ROOKIE ARLERT, WHY IS A RUNT LIKE YOU HERE?!"

"To help The Scouts win!" he had shut his eyes preparing to be blasted.

Shadis' tone had calmed, slightly "That is delightful to hear, you'll make a great tackle bag, row three about face."

The university's Director of Sport, Dot Pixies, watched from afar along with the University President, Jens Fritz. "Is this really necessary?" he asked Pixies.

Pixies only chuckled, "Before he had a successful playing career, Shadis served two tours in the military gaining the rank of lieutenant, there is a method to all of this I assure you.

"This is a way to find out whether these rookies have the heart and soul to make it on this team. Many of them have gone through their entire lives with everyone telling them how great they are. Scholarships only add to this hubris. Shadis will bring them back down to earth. Keep an eye on that small boy", he pointed to Armin, "Something tells me there's more to him than meets the eye".

Shadis had turned his attention to Thomas Wagner "Oi, sideburns."

"Thomas Wagner from Shiganshina High-School, sir."

Shadis looked him up and down "How tall are you?"

"Eh, 6'3", sir"

" 6'3", I didn't know they stacked dogshit that high, you must be one of the scholarships then?"

"Yes sir, wide-receiver."

"Well then know this", he leaned in closer "We have a surplus of those, so unless you wish to spend the majority of your scholarship sitting on the bench, you better make yourself stand out!"

Shadis walked by a now stunned Thomas and onto Marco.

"AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMILING AT YOU FRECKLE-FACED IDIOT?!"

"Marco Bodt, Quarterback, Rose High School, Trost. I plan to lead The Scouts to victory in the National Championship and then play in the National League" his voice full of confidence.

"Really?, Shadis' eyes narrowed, "That makes you an idealistic fool", he brought his face to within an inch of Marco's "The only thing fans of the National League love seeing more than anything is to see brash, young, confident quarterbacks like you get pounded into the dirt."

Marco's mouth hung agape as Shadis moved further down the line.

Eren noticed Jean display his overconfidence before he was met with a headbutt from Shadis. "No one told you to sit,rookie. IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS KIRSCHTEIN, THEN FORGET ABOUT MAKING IT IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE!."

Shadis was fully in the zone as he crushed each rookie's overconfidence, one by one and finally made it to Connie.

"Hey Cue-Ball, you're up"

"Eh,me?, he placed his hand on his chest "Sir, Connie Springer from Ragako, sir!" Armin looked over nervously at his roommate and noticed he had his salute the wrong way round "Uh Oh ", he thought to himself. Before Connie knew it, the towering Shadis had grabbed him by the sides of his head bringing him up to eye level.

"You have it backwards Connie Springer, that salute was one of the first things you were taught at this university. It symbolises strength in the face of overwhelming adversity. IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE, YOU FREAK?!"

He released his grip on Connie and made his way back to the very front of the crowd of rookies. "You all have a lot to learn to make it on this football team, you're all too absorbed in your own importance. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT A BUNCH OF PEN-PUSHING PUNDITS RATED YOU DURING THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS. YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING THIS TEAM SUCCEED, AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN UNTIL YOU PUT YOUR HEADS DOWN AND WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM, FOR THE TEAM!"

"Sir!", the recruits responded, Connie had gotten his salute correct this time.

It was Erwin's turn to speak, "Welcome rookies, the introduction may have felt unnecessarily harsh, but it was the first step in a very important process in making you all better football players and better teammates. Our goal is to win the National Championship, something this team has not done in nearly two decades. I've had the misfortune of losing in the National Championship game twice as a player and 3 times in succession as a coach. There will be no fourth time. I know we recruited the right players who were given scholarships, but talent is merely half of a successful team; desire, grind, and working as a unit are the difference between those who cross the line and those who fall short".

Shadis gave a simple nod to Erwin and moved to his right "All defensive players with me." Reiner, Connie, Jean and several others walked over with Shadis to the other side of the practise field.

"Alright the remainder of you will join Levi, our offensive coordinator", Armin began making his way with Eren, Marco and Thomas, along with the tall stranger he bumped into yesterday when Erwin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "You said your name was Arlert?", Armin nodded in response. "You were listed as a kicker on the tryout form", he pointed to the tall bearded blonde man to the left of them "That's Mike Zacharias, he's our special teams coordinator, I want you to spend some time with him, you may be a walk-on but we're in a dire situation with our kicking unit."

Armin nodded again "Yes, sir"

"Coach", Erwin corrected him, Armin began to make his way over to Mike.

"So, have you any experience as a kicker?", Mike asked him.

"I played until high-school"

"Why'd you stop?"

"My grandfather made me quit after I suffered a concussion"

"You're a kicker, how did you manage to get concussed?"

"The ball was fumbled on a kickoff, and I jumped on it"

Mike laughed, "Don't worry, you won't be doing anything stupid like that on my watch, anyway I want to see what you got, so let's start kicking".

"Yes, Coach"

"Mike", he corrected him, Armin did his best to avoid rolling his eyes.

On the other side of the practise field Levi was putting the rookies through their paces along with other members of the offense. Eren was taking part in a drill and was doing what he did best, making tacklers miss. He was ducking and weaving, sidestepping as if it were as easy as breathing. Levi wasn't impressed though and made his way over to him.

Eren was in awe as one of his idols made his way over to him.

"What's your name, brat?"

"Eren Jaeger", he puffed his chest out slightly with confidence.

"Hmm, let me point something out, kid", Eren nodded

"Your body position is too high, your balance is all off, if someone hits you high in a game you're either going to get hurt or land on your ass, or both", his voice maintained an uninterested tone.

Eren almost gasped, no one had ever criticised his running style before, and it stung a little more coming from his hero.

Levi came closer "Try using your fancy tricks against me", he got into position.

Eren wasn't expecting this, but he got into his position. He began to run and suddenly fell backwards. "Centre of gravity, too high", Levi told him, "Try again", Eren got up and this time lowered his body position, he went to juke past Levi, but was met with a hard hit to his side and fell to the turf. "Don't lean into your juke, I could see that coming a mile away", he offered Eren his hand and helped him up, "You've got talent kiddo, but don't confuse that with greatness".

Levi went back to coaching the quarterbacks. Marco was conversing with Gunter Schultz, The team's starting quarterback for the past 3 years.

"Your name's Bodt, right, rookie?", Levi asked him, to which Marco nodded.

"Yes, Coach"

"Let's see what you can do", he looked over to his right "Oi, Eld come over here."

Eld Gin, walked over to them, he was one of several players on The Scouts who were expected to be selected in next year's National League draft.

"Right, rookie", he turned back to Marco, "I'm going to tell Eld to run a route, but you won't know which one it is, I want to see how quick you are at reacting".

Levi went over to Eld and whispered in his ear, to which Eld nodded in response, while Marco moved into position.

"Commence at the whistle", said Levi.

Marco lined up behind the centre and Levi blew the whistle, the snap from the centre was too high but Marco still managed to secure the football. His eyes quickly turned to Eld, he watched his motions carefully to ensure the wide-receiver knew Marco was eyeing him. Marco recognised the route almost immediately, a curl route. Just as Eld did a quick pivot to finish the route, Marco chose his moment and fired a dart towards Eld's chest. He had chosen his moment perfectly as Eld hauled in the catch with no difficulty. Many members of the offense, rookies and veterans alike, stood mouths agape at both the accuracy and speed of Marco's bullet of a pass. Levi stood with his arms crossed "Huh, well played".

Shadis was putting the defense through their paces, he was watching an elementary cover drill when he saw something that irked him, Cue-Ball was at it again. Connie hadn't expected the coach to come up to him.

"Sir?", he was suddenly lifted into the air again.

"Is it just in your nature to do EVERYTHING ASS BACKWARDS, SPRINGER?!", he released his grip. "You're messing up your stance, when you step back to begin covering you start with the foot furthest back, doing the opposite, as you were doing just there, and you'll get burned on just about every route, YOU GOT THAT, ROOKIE?!"

"Yes, SIR!"

"Good, now resume from the top", he turned his attention to Jean next "Huh, looks like there might be a place for you on this team after all Kirschtein."

Shadis moved onto the pass-rushers next, and even he was impressed by what he saw from Reiner. The hulking blonde was making the drill look like a cakewalk, The Scouts defense was famous for their ability to get after the quarterback and yet some of the team's veterans still struggled with this drill.

"What's your name, rookie?"

"Reiner Braun, sir"

"Any chance you could dial back the intensity a little, I don't want to see the training equipment broken on only the first day of practise?"

"Not a problem, sir"

"Good, I expect you to keep this up when the pads come on in tomorrow's practise."

Despite not playing football for nearly three years, Armin was surprised his muscle memory was retained as he showed little difficulty in kicking the ball through the uprights. He had only missed once so far, and to his credit Mike had over inflated the ball to mimic how hard it would become in colder conditions. They had begun in the 15 to 20 yard range and had moved back 5 yards after every tenth attempt. They were now in the 50 to 55 yard range. Naturally, Armin's thin legs did not generate nearly enough power to hit his target this far out, his success rate was 2 out of nine attempts so far.

Mike could see the defeat in Armin's eyes, "Hey, don't lose faith, it's only the first day of practise and our first match is still a week away, not bad for a tryout."

"Eh, thanks, I'm just rusty, what are we going to do about kick-offs, though?"

"We can just use the punter, don't worry about that yet, a few hours a week in the gym, training your legs should increase your power, we have a program tailored towards each position."

Armin resumed his position in behind the ball. This would be his final attempt of the day and he was determined to make it count. Time seemed to stand still as he began his run-up. He stretched back his leg and whacked the ball with all of his might. The ball began its journey from 55 yards out, it stayed straight but was losing altitude, fast.

Armin watched intently as the ball's descent became faster and faster. It hit the crossbar and he felt his heart sink before kicking the turf in frustration. Mike raised his hand gesturing him to wait, the ball rolled over the crossbar. It was good. Mike raised his hand motioning for a high five, Armin smacked the hand with confidence. If only talking to the mysterious Annie Leonhardt was just as easy, he thought to himself. Wait why was he thinking about her now and here of all places?

Eren caught up with Armin after practise, who was conversing with Connie and Marco. "Oh, Eren, these are my roommates; Connie and Marco"

"Yes, Armin I picked that up from context"

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

Marco offered his hand "A pleasure"

Eren met his hand "Likewise."

They were soon joined by Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt and Thomas.

"Oh, hey buddy, I didn't get your name yesterday, I'm Bertholdt", he said to Armin.

"Oh, sorry, Armin, I was in a rush yesterday, hence my running into you in the hallway"

"Ah, no worries", he looked around, "A small world guys, eh?"

"Everything is to you Bert", Reiner laughed, Bertholdt rolled his eyes skyward and shook his head, he then whispered something into Reiner's ear.

"Seriously?", he turned to Armin.

"So what did you make of Levi, Eren?", Thomas asked him.

"Oh he _loves_ me"

"Not easy being put in your place by one of the greatest players of the past fifteen years", said Marco.

"It might do you some good, Eren", Armin piped up.

"And how did practise go for you, Armin?"

"Well I didn't get creamed, so I guess I'll be here tomorrow too"

"Cool", Eren maintained his composure but his eyes gave away his excitement.

After showering and changing the eight of them walked back to the boys' dormitory. Reiner was conversing with Armin, "You've got guts managing to give an answer to Shadis like that"

"I guess, it was only the first thing that popped up in my head"

Reiner chuckled lightly "Still you could tell he targeted you, I think you may have passed his little test"

"Well I can't blame him, I don't really have any business being anywhere near a football field, I'm here on an academic scholarship not an athletic one".

"Ah come on, I know you have what it takes to make it on this team, guts are what count."

Reiner turned to Eren "Bert told me Levi criticised your lack of balance, I think I know the right person who can help you"

Eren's eyes lit up "I'm all ears, who is he?"

" _She_ actually, an old friend of Bert and I; Annie, she's a black-belt in judo", he noticed Armin blush a little.

"With all due respect, how is judo going to help me with my balance"

"Judo is all about balance, the entire discipline prides itself on that."

"Well, give me further details and I'll look into it"

"Super, just a word of warning though, she doesn't exactly play well with others, so she might come across as a little cold, but-"

"Wait, is her surname Leonhardt?", he interjected.

"Eh yes", he narrowed his eyes "How did you know that?"

"She's my girlfriend's roommate", he looked over at Armin whose face had turned to a dark shade of red.

"You okay, Armin?", he asked him.

"Sure, just a little worn out is all"

"Okay, send me her details Reiner, please"

"No problem"

All eight of them split as they made their way back to their respective dorms.

"Thank God, the elevator is fixed, imagine if we had to climb all of those stairs after practise", Connie sighed.

"I know, and today wasn't even a full practise", added Marco "The pads come on tomorrow and then we'll see how grueling it really can be."

They both noticed Armin had been uncharacteristically quiet and had not said a word in a while.

"You sure you okay, Armin?"

Armin stopped fidgeting with his thumbs "Sorry, just deep in thought"

"About what, thinking how easy you'll have it as kicker?", Connie chortled.

"Ha-ha, hilarious", he began taking notes in his pocket diary as they made their way to the apartment door

"You know there are apps for that sort of thing?", Marco said while looking over Armin's shoulder.

"True, but my phone runs out of battery, this diary doesn't"

"Fair point", he said as he turned the key and opened the door.

As Armin walked into his bedroom he was still deep in thought about what Reiner had said to Eren. So Annie Leonhardt was not only Mikasa's roommate but a friend of Reiner's, who happened to be Eren's roommate. Not only that if he made the team in the end, he would be teammates of both Reiner and Annie's other friend Bertholdt.

The grilling he had gotten from Shadis had awakened something in him. Next time he saw Annie he would have a proper conversation with her, even he would have to do most of the talking. He was tired of becoming speechless in front of an attractive girl. Little did he know that he would get the opportunity far sooner than he had expected.


	9. Rivalry

The last thing Eren was expecting at 7.45 a.m on a Saturday was his phone to buzz. He wriggled his arm out from under Mikasa who was still sleeping soundly next to him and unlocked his phone. Four unread messages, all from Annie Leonhardt; "BE READY TO MEET AT THE GYM IN AN HOUR...LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT...WHERE ARE YOU?...IF YOU'RE NOT HERE IN TEN MINUTES FIND YOURSELF A NEW INSTRUCTOR."

"Shit", he nearly fell out of the bed waking Mikasa up in the process.

"What's wrong?", she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm late, don't have time to talk", he threw clothes out of the closet looking for suitable sports attire, having changed he gave her a quick peck on the cheek "See you later."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Mika, I don't have time", he ran out of the bedroom and then out the apartment door.

"Whatever you say", she resumed her position on the bed and went back to sleep.

Eren was thankful that campus was usually a ghost-town at this hour on a Saturday morning. That's why it came as a surprise when he accidentally ran into a girl who was crossing his path. They both collided and the girl dropped whatever she was carrying onto the ground.

"Oh no, my WATERMELON!", she sounded close to tears

"Sorry", he fumbled through his wallet and took out a loyalty card for a burrito restaurant on campus "Here, take this", he ran off again.

Sasha looked down at the card he handed to her "What the- THIS DOESN'T BUY ME ANOTHER WATERMELON!", she shouted after him "YOU JERK!".

Eren could care less about whatever insults were shouted at him, "Really all that fuss over a watermelon?", he thought out loud to himself as he made his way into the training gym. He scanned around and saw a blonde-headed girl in sports-leggings and a grey hoodie sitting in the corner of the gym, headphones on with a disinterested look on her face. He made his way over to her "Annie?"

She looked up "About time, I was literally about to leave"

"I'm very sorry I-"

She raised her hand "Forget it, let's get to work", she looked him up and down "Your top is on backwards by the way."

The next hour and a half was gruelling for Eren to say the least. Levi may have revealed his lack of balance to him but Annie exposed it even further, how had he managed to make it this far in football without this being revealed to him?

"Okay, try again", Annie readied her stance as Eren charged towards her. She sweeped his ankle with little difficulty and brushed her hair behind her right ear again "This is child's play to her", he thought to himself.

"Okay Jaeger, let me make one thing clear to you", she helped him up "Leaning that far forward with your body position that high up, and it won't take much to put you on your ass"

"With all due respect Annie, most defenders aren't going to be black-belts in Judo", he regretted his retort immediately upon seeing the scary look on her face.

"And most running-backs I've seen, don't run like that, because those that do, don't last very long."

They stood in awkward silence for nearly a full minute before she spoke up again "Okay, I'm going to show you one more move, it can be useful when taking on someone who has a few pounds on you." She stepped back "I'm going to run at you and I want you to come at me like you're going to tackle me", Eren nodded in response.

"Got you now, you've gotten too cocky Annie", he thought to himself, as they both ran to each other Eren lowered his shoulders to make a tackle. Before he knew it Annie had grabbed him by the collar of his tee, leaned forward while lowering her body position and used her leg she had closest to Eren to sweep his from under him.

"Okay, we're done for today", she helped him onto his feet again.

"Okay, thanks for this"

"Don't mention it."

Eren made his way back to his dorm picking up a coffee for both Mikasa and himself along the way.

Mikasa was taking notes from a textbook on the desk in his bedroom when he walked in "Hey Mika", he handed her the coffee "I'm going to take a shower." She looked across as Eren removed his top and noticed several large bruises on his toned abdomen "Eren how did you get those?!", she ran to him "Did Annie do this to you?", narrowing her eyes at him.

"Mikasa it's okay"

"I'll teach her a lesson later on"

"For Christ's sake Mikasa, I'm not your little brother and I'm not some damned toddler!"

"Still, she shouldn't have done that to you"

"Mikasa", he sat her down on the desk-chair, "If this is what it takes to make me a better football player, than I'm willing to put up with a few bruises now and again, and promise me you won't get into a fight with Annie over this, please?"

Mikasa inhaled a deep breath "I promise." Eren nodded and went to take a shower.

"I promise that no one will ever do that to you again", she said to herself after he was out of earshot.

She made her way out of the bedroom and noticed Reiner had now woken up and was pouring himself a cup of coffee. " 'Morning, Mikasa"

"Good morning"

"How did Eren's training with Annie go?"

"He seems happy with it"

Reiner nodded and took a sip of his coffee "Good, I've known Annie since we were five, she's as much a sister as a friend to me at this point"

They were interrupted when Jean came out of his bedroom. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stopped in his tracks when he saw Mikasa. He was aware that Eren had a girlfriend but he had never seen her and was stunned by how beautiful she was. "Mikasa, that's Jean, our other roommate"

"Hello", she gave him a wave and a small smile.

"Eh, h-hi"

"Mikasa is Eren's girlfriend"

"I picked that up from context, thanks man."

Eren stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Reiner noticed the bruises "Damn, Annie sure left her mark on you, literally", he started laughing.

"Yeah, I never thought my balance was that off but she proved me wrong alright."

Mikasa had folded her arms and had a sullen look on her face "What's wrong with you?", Eren asked her. "Nothing", she responded and took a quick look at her watch "I'm going to head back to my dorm, I'll see you later Eren", she gave him a kiss and headed out the door.

"Care to explain what that was about?", Jean asked him

"Ah, she's a little upset because Annie gave me a few bruises, she can get a little protective of me sometimes."

"Didn't think you were attracted to the clingy type"

Eren narrowed his eyes "Watch it Kirschtein."

Reiner stood up "Okay boys, let's save it for football"

"Yeah, no hard feelings, eh Jaeger?"

"Sure, whatever", he went back into his room.

Jean's thoughts returned to Mikasa, "Damn, she's way outta his league", he thought to himself. "Want any coffee?" Reiner asked him disrupting his train of thought.

"Eh, sure, just black please, thanks"

"No problem, so do you plan on doing anything today besides lie in bed?"

"I should probably go to the library, I have an assignment due on Tuesday"

"Oh look at you, Mr. Responsible"

Jean gave him a dismissive wave "Well it is worth 8% of my overall grade, so I shouldn't neglect it."

"Do what you gotta do, I suppose", he handed Jean his mug.

"Thanks, so looks like Shadis has taken a liking to you", he took a sip from the cup.

"I guess, though I doubt he has favourites, he still screams at me too just less so than you and Connie."

Jean took a quick look at his watch "Mind if I take the shower first?"

"Go for it"

"Thanks", he grabbed his towel from his bedroom and headed into the bathroom.

Mikasa displayed her usual aggression as she unloaded on the punching-bag. Her background in Karate meant that she had taken to kickboxing like a breeze. Her first competitive matchup with the university team was less than a week away and she was looking forward to hitting something other than leather. She watched across the hall to see Annie in the midst of a punching drill.

Mitabi Jarnach, the team coach, called on everyone to find a sparring partner. Even though the boys and girls didn't spar with each other some of the boys winced as either Mikasa or Annie walked by them. Mikasa walked up to Annie "Hey, Annie", Annie looked up at her "Why don't you teach those moves to me as well?", she gave the short blonde an intense stare. Annie brushed her hair behind her right ear "I wonder about that, these moves are intended for humans, I really don't think someone like you needs them." She readied herself into her usual fighting stance; left foot forward, knee slightly bent, right foot back both arms raised in front of her face "But I'm curious to see if they work on a beast"

A small crowd had gathered to watch them, arguably the two best fighters on the team were about to spar and they were not going to miss the opportunity to watch. Even members of the volleyball team, who were sharing the hall with the kickboxing team, had come over to watch, "Begin!", ordered Mitabi.

Annie went for her signature roundhouse kick with her right leg, Mikasa raised her left arm and pivoted 90 degrees managing to block the kick. Mikasa then made a jab at Annie who dodged by moving her head to the side. Mikasa let out a scream of absolute fury and unloaded a combo at Annie who was doing everything to block the crazed noirette. "You're going to pay for what you did to Eren", she growled at Annie, "I can't help it if your boyfriend wants to get his ass kicked", her voice still retained its uninterested tone.

"Wow, this must be personal", a member of the volleyball team said to his teammates

"Yeah, you can tell there's bad blood between the two of them".

Everyone gasped as Mikasa brought her arm up and came at Annie with an illegal elbow move.

"Foul!", shouted Mitabi, but the girls ignored him, this was no longer a sparring contest but an all out war between two rivals. Annie went back to her Muay Thai and Judo while Mikasa began unleashing her Karate techniques.

Everyone watching was scared to get involved and break up the fight lest they end up in hospital. Mikasa let her anger get the best of her and left her legs exposed, Annie saw her opportunity and sweeped the much taller girl's legs from under her. As Mikasa lay on her back Annie placed all of her weight on her chest and wrapped her arms around Mikasa's neck; _Kesa-Gatame_ , scarf-hold, a submission technique in Judo.

Mikasa and Annie's faces were within two inches of each other, Mikasa recognised the look on Annie's face, the one she gave to Mina on the first day they met in their dorm. Her icy-blue eyes burned with intensity and her brow was furrowed, her normally full lips had thinned. "You're gonna pay for what you did", she snarled at Mikasa in a low tone.

"What the fuck are you talking about?", Annie released her hold slightly and focused on her own thoughts"Of course she doesn't know what I'm talking about, that boy, deep blue eyes and golden-blonde hair, why am I thinking about him now?"

Annie had let her guard down and Mikasa managed to get herself free. Both of them stood up and faced each other a few yards apart. They were about to resume when members of both the volleyball team and the kickboxing team held them apart from each other. "We're done for the day", Mitabi announced, his voice heavy as he rubbed two fingers against his forehead.

After they released their grip on her Annie stormed off to the locker room. She didn't bother to have a shower as she changed into her white hoodie, tracksuit bottoms and beaten up Nikes, she collected her things and headed to the library.

The Reiss Library was absolutely immense it was one of five libraries on the TCU campus but was without question the largest. Annie decided to head to the lowest level of the library, 'The Basement' as it was affectionately known. She always chose this spot because she was almost guaranteed to be alone, as she never saw more than three people down here with her at a time. She released a small satisfied sigh seeing that no one else was here with her, or so she thought.

Armin was looking for a periodical, which were all kept in The Basement and he almost dropped his chosen book when he saw her. Annie was sitting at a desk not four meters from the shelf where he stood. He watched her through the shelf, she was writing intensely while putting sums into a calculator every so often. He remembered the promise he made to himself only a few days ago. He wouldn't get a better opportunity, they were perfectly alone, no one else was around, he _had_ to talk to her because it was now or never.

He crept up to her slowly, he noticed she was doing statistics homework as he noticed she had the course textbook open to her left. She let out a frustrated sigh, closed the book and took out another one from her bag. She had her head buried in a financial accounting book when he finally reached her.

Armin cleared his throat "Eh, hi Annie"

"What?", she deadpanned closing the book and looked up, she felt her heart stop and suddenly quicken in pace.

"I...uh...well, I saw that y-you-", her icy stare was making it difficult for him to find even the most simple of words. He was renowned for his way with words yet Annie Leonhardt made it feel like he had the vocabulary of a six-year old. "I saw that you were doing the statistics homework"

"What of it?", neither her tone nor her facial expression changed.

"It looked like you might need help"

"And what made you think that?"

"Well", he gestured to the half-finished sums on the sheet of paper.

Annie sat silent for about a minute "What am I doing?, why am I pushing him away?, he's just trying to be nice". The voice of her father entered her head "NO, I'm the only one on your side, you're a fighter Annie, the whole world is your enemy." This was nothing new to Annie ever since she ran away from home at 13 years old and adopted by her friend Bertholdt's family she always had this internal struggle; her inner-self who just wanted to be happy and loved and her father who wanted Annie to shut the world around her out.

She realised that she had left Armin standing there without an answer for a while "Okay, I'll take your help, thank you Armin"

"Don't mention it", he pulled up a seat to the desk and sat beside her.

Over the next twenty minutes he guided her through the homework questions. Everything became so much simpler through his voice, she thought to herself. Annie could tell he genuinely loved helping people learn. His voice put her at ease, because he seemed to have a serious interest in the world around him.

She felt a sadness after they finished the last question. Armin stood up to go when he felt her grab his sleeve "You don't have to leave". Armin was taken aback, he hadn't expected her to be so eager for him to stay. "Don't worry I'm just getting my bag", he gave her a warm smile. Armin continued his study sitting next to her for the next hour.

Annie announced she had to go back to her dorm.

"Mind if I walked with you?", he asked his warm smile still on his face.

"If you want, I suppose", her voice didn't sound as deadpan as it normally did.

They conversed as they walked from the Reiss Library to the girls' dormitory though it was Armin who did most of the talking. "So how long have you known Reiner and Bertholdt?"

"Since we were five, we all went to the same schools from Kindergarten till now, how do you know them?"

"Through football"

She looked him up and down "You don't come across as the athletic type" she said, cursing herself for insulting him, but she was surprised to hear him laugh.

"I know, don't worry I'm a kicker, I'm as far away from physical contact without being the waterboy."

"And, how do you know Mikasa?"

"Through Eren, all three of us have been friends since we were nine, I know, not as impressive as you, Reiner and Bertholdt"

Armin swore he saw a hint of a smile form on her lips and her eyes didn't seem to have their usual icy quality. Annie couldn't believe her luck, Armin seemed to pop up everywhere, and why was he so kind to her, she didn't deserve it. She had been pushing people away for years, she wasn't a good person, she was selfish and unsociable she didn't deserve happiness. "That's right you don't", her father's voice growled from within her.

"Everything okay?", Armin asked her

Annie struggled to tell a lie to those innocent eyes but did anyway "Yeah, I'm fine", she had hidden herself behind her protective crystal again. As they made their way to her door she just remembered her brawl with Mikasa earlier. How would she react when she saw Annie with her friend? If she was as protective of Armin as she was of the Jaeger boy, she knew her life would be made miserable even further by her.

She turned the key and opened the door, she was relieved to see the apartment empty.

"Well it was nice to finally talk to you, Annie"

"You too Armin"

"If you need any more help with Stats, just shoot me a message, here" he wrote his number down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. Mina walked through the door just at that moment "Oh, hey Armin"

"Hi Mina, I was just leaving"

"Oh no, you promised you would stick around next time you came here"

"Oh gee, you're right, and I don't have any more excuses", he rubbed the back of his neck.

Mina started boiling the kettle, "So, care to explain what was on that piece of paper you handed to Annie?", she had a mischievous grin on her face.

"Just my number and NO it's not what you think it is, we're in the same stats class, it's just so she can contact me if she has any trouble with homework"

"Oh sure I believe that 100%", she began to take out mugs. Annie had remained quiet and sat down at the table.

Mikasa walked in the door a few moments later "Oh, hey Armin", she noticed Annie and glared at her. Annie returned Mikasa's expression much to Armin's confusion "Hey Mikasa".

"You for tea, girl?", asked Mina

"Please, so what brings you here Armin?"

"I walked back with Annie from the library, we're in the same stats class and were doing homework together"

"Really?", her features softened a little but continued to glare at Annie.

"Annie even got Armin's number", said Mina bringing the mugs and a pack of biscuits over to the table. She had a big grin on her face when she saw the two blondes blush. "I'll be back in a sec", Armin headed to the bathroom. Mikasa took a seat opposite Annie, the two of them glared at each other. "Could you two try not to kill each other at least until Armin gets back", Mikasa and Annie turned their heads to Mina with stunned looks on their faces. Armin came out of the bathroom.

"So, I here you made the team Armin."

"That's right Mina, I did, though only as the kicker."

"I only wish Thomas played a similar position, at least then I wouldn't have to worry about him every time he steps on the field."

Mikasa took a sip of her tea "So, you two are in the same class, you never told me you were study mates either."

"Well actually I bumped into her today in the library and noticed she needed some help with the homework."

Annie finally spoke up "I was just tired I might've been able to do it on my own"

"Well at least with Armin's help, you got it done quicker", Mina piped up "He's a certified genius, he had the highest score on the University Entrance Exam."

"Mina, please"

"What you should be proud of your achievements, not many people get a perfect score on a spelling test, let alone the entrance exam for one of the country's top universities."

Annie noticed Armin blush and began fidgeting with his thumbs, to which Mikasa gave him a disapproving look, Annie found it cute though.

After finishing his tea Armin got up "Well, this was nice, thanks for the tea Mina"

"Anytime Armin, come back often, please"

He nodded and gave them all a quick wave before heading out the door.

"Why do you string him along like that?", Mikasa asked "You know he had a massive crush on you back in high-school."

"Oh I know, but he's always been sweet to me so why not return the favour, hey if I weren't with Thomas who knows what might have been between blondie and I", she noticed a sullen look had formed on Annie's face "I hope you're not jealous are you?"

Annie turned to her "Why would I be?"

"Oh nothing", she brought the empty mugs over to the sink and then headed to the bathroom.

Mikasa suddenly grabbed Annie's hand "Don't get any ideas"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'll let your training sessions with Eren slide, but I swear to God, you hurt Armin and I'll carve you up", her tone was like acid.

Annie pulled her hand away from Mikasa "Fuck you", she stormed off into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Annie began pacing back and forth in her room "Armin and I aren't even a thing why is she going after me?", she muttered to herself under her breath.

"Because you're toxic, you're a bad person Annie, you always have been."

Annie turned around to see her father in her room, she knew he wasn't really there but she still saw and heard him anyway. "The whole world is your enemy Annie, I'm the only one on your side, why don't you come home, I miss you."

"You're not here, you're just in my head."

"Oh but I'm always here unlike your mother"

"Stop it, it's not my fault she's dead", tears were beginning to stream down her face.

"Oh please, you're crying?, how pathetic, look at yourself, how could that boy possibly have any interest in a snivelling little tramp like you?"

"SHUT UP!", she screamed hurling a book at the apparition, the book hit the wall with a loud *thump* and her father was no longer there.

She heard a knock on her door and then Mina's voice "Annie, is everything okay?"

She wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her hoodie "Yeah, everything's fine, thanks Mina"

"Are you sure?"

Annie walked over to the door and opened it up a peek and brought her face to it "I'm fine", she said to Mina, who had a worried look on her face. "Okay, I need to go to cheerleading practise, text me if you have any problems, alright?"

"Don't worry about it", she closed the door again and sat down by her desk.

She took out her sketch-pad, she always drew whenever she was upset. She began to get a mental picture of Armin and started to draw his likeness. She payed particular attention to his eyes, those sweet innocent eyes, eyes that saw the wonder in the world, the beauty, the mysteries of it all. She took out her phone and saw that she still had his number saved. If the whole world was her enemy, Armin Arlert certainly wasn't, and that was all she needed.


	10. Gameday

Thomas' alarm buzzed, 7.00 a.m, he looked at Mina who was snuggled in his embrace,

soundly asleep. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head and got up. Bertholdt had already awoke and was eating a bowl of porridge at the table and scrolling through his phone.

"Good morning Tommy, how are the nerves?"

"Butterflies in my gut, not sure if it's fear, excitement or both."

"Well the bus is leaving in two hours and then we've another hour and a half before we reach Krolva, plenty of time to get your stomach settled."

"Sure thing", he took his own pack of porridge out from one of the cupboards and started boiling the kettle.

As they conversed Mina came out of the bedroom ten minutes later, her dark as night hair, unconstrained by their normal pig-tails, flowed freely down her back. Even in her tired state, and despite his sexuality, Bertholdt could tell how beautiful she was, Thomas should consider himself lucky to call her his girlfriend. " 'Morning Bert", she stifled a yawn, "Mind if I take the shower first?"

Both of them knew a girl requesting to take a shower first wasn't really a request and more like an expectation "Go for it", Bertholdt smiled at her.

After Mina closed the bathroom door, Bertholdt brought his bowl over to the sink "So, what's it like to have your girlfriend on the sideline while you're playing?", he asked his teammate.

"It has its positives and negatives, on one hand it's great to hear her cheer me on, but on the other I can hear the worry in her voice after I get tackled."

"Aw, she only cares for your well-being after all."

"I guess, it's not like I'm risking my life out there, though"

"Hmm, you know with the latest concussion studies…"

"You're starting to sound like her now", he laughed.

Mina came out of the bathroom, draped in a towel and her hair dripping wet. She plugged in her hair-dryer and took her brush out from the bedroom. "Brace yourselves guys, this will be a little loud."

"Did you bring that over with you last night?", Bertholdt raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, I have two, one I keep here and the other one back at my own dorm", she turned the hair-dryer on and the apartment was soon filled with the noise of it.

Thomas turned on the TV while Bertholdt took his turn in the bathroom. "What time is the cheerleaders' bus leaving at?", he started to flick through channels.

"Same time as the team's", she shouted over the hair-dryer.

Thomas decided against trying to have a conversation over the noise of the hair-dryer, he would need to save his voice for the game, in case he needed to call for a pass. He took his turn in the shower after Bertholdt emerged from the bathroom.

Bertholdt and Mina, who had finished drying her hair, began conversing as they waited for Thomas to finish in the shower. "So, you excited to be seen on TV?", he asked her.

"Oh, please, it's not like the camera will be focusing on the cheerleading squad while the game is on."

"I don't know about that, cameramen never fail to notice pretty girls when they see them."

She gave him a mockingly dismissive wave "Oh, you."

"What?, I'm being serious."

She giggled, "Oh, well I guess it will be more than a little exciting, and let's hope we have something to cheer for."

"Don't worry, we will, I'm sure of it, I'm surprised the cheerleading team is travelling to this game though."

"It's the first game of the season so every away team is bringing their cheerleading squad with them, though we'll have to stay where the TCU fans are concentrated."

"Oh?", he raised his eyebrows in confusion at her.

"Well, I can't speak for the other cheerleaders but I'd rather not be pelted with debris or hounded by cat calls by the home crowd."

Bertholdt released a hearty laugh "Fair enough."

After Thomas got out of the shower and got dressed they all headed down to the dormitory common room. Bertholdt sent a text to Reiner that he would meet him in the common room in an hour.

* * *

Reiner had decided to get up early to start his morning routine he had before every game. He had developed it over the years, it involved a series of stretches, followed by a few yoga poses and finished with breakfast: a bowl of apple and berry porridge, a glass of grapefruit juice and three slices of turkey bacon.

After having his shower and getting dressed he checked to see if his roommates had gotten up yet. "Oi, Jean", he knocked on the bedroom door, "You up?"

He got his answer when the door opened; Jean, with a bad case of bed head and rubbing the sleep from his eyes stepped out "Ugh, I am now."

Reiner raised both of his hands apologetically "Sorry, but you do want to make it to the game don't you?"

He made his way over to Eren's bedroom "Hey, Eren", he rapped on the door "You awake?"

When he didn't get an answer he opened the door; Eren's bed was both empty and made, the curtains were drawn and he didn't see any trace of his sports gear. "Hmm, must've gotten up earlier, strange I didn't hear him moving around this morning", he turned to Jean who was getting ready to take a shower "I think he spent the night at Mikasa's dorm."

"Well I hope he remembered to get his gear ready, the bus waits for no one but the coaches."

* * *

"Eren?", a voice echoed to him "Eren?"

He groggily opened his eyes to see Mikasa's face above his "Oh", he stifled a yawn "Hey Mika, what time is it?"

"You overslept, it's half past eight, the bus leaves in 30 minutes."

He jumped out of the bed "Oh crap, did I set the alarm?"

"You did for 8.15, an hour later than you meant to, I've been trying to wake you up since then."

Eren put his clothes on as fast as he could, he wouldn't have time for a shower and he would have to eat his breakfast on the way down to the bus.

Mikasa ran down with him, she would be on the fan bus which would leave half an hour later, they were now only a few hundred metres from the bus. "Raven, promise me you won't tell anyone I overslept", he panted while dodging out of people's way.

"I promise, I won't tell anyone you put your pants on backwards either", she deadpanned.

"Ugh, don't remind me", he picked up pace.

"Stop, you need to watch where you're going", Eren ran into Historia who had unexpectedly crossed his path and both toppled to the ground. Historia, in a daze, realized she was still wearing her cheerleader outfit and quickly readjusted her position to cover what was underneath her skirt, her cheeks were scarlet. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I was in such a hurry I didn't see where I was going", he helped her up.

"That's alright I guess I was too."

"Glad you could finally make it Jaeger", Reiner slapped him on the back.

"Yeah, of course I forgot to set my alarm on gameday."

"Ah well, you're here now", he looked down "Even if your pants are on back to front."

It was now Eren's turn for his face to become scarlet with embarrassment "Could I ask a favour?"

"Shoot."

"Cover me while I readjust my pants?"

Reiner burst out laughing "Sure, why not?"

Marco, Jean and Armin were sitting on one of the benches next to the bus.

"God, I gotta hit something other than a tackle bag, I can't stand to wait much longer."

"You should be careful what you wish for", Marco told Jean, his eyes not looking up from his phone "I'm hoping I might get a couple of series' in this game, though if it's a close game I don't fancy my chances."

"Well aren't you optimistic", he looked over at Armin, "Do you ever not have your head in a book, it's not like there's some secret strategy in-", he read aloud the title of the book; " _Thinking Fast and Slow_."

"You'd be surprised", he closed the book "I'll get back to it later."

The three of them were soon joined by Connie "Excited guys?, I know I am!"

"You sound confident buzzcut, best hope you see the ball before I do if you hope to make an interception", Jean smirked at him.

"Woah, look at you leading the charge, I'm your eyes and ears back there, so you better show some respect."

"Ah safeties have the easy job, it's corners like me who have to do the hard graft."

"What like getting burnt in coverage and have us clean up your mess?"

"Oh you wanna play that game, shorty", he stood up, "Tell me you at least got your stance corrected for today, I'm not covering for you if Shadis catches you messing up."

"Catch what, Kirschtein?"

Jean felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up as he heard the one voice in the world that gave him the jitters. He turned around to face the towering man "Oh, uh nothing sir, just banter between teammates", he could feel himself begin to perspire at his temples.

Shadis narrowed his eyes "Save the trash-talking for the game, it might be the only weapon you have in your arsenal, because I doubt your coverage skills will suffice Kirschtein", he left the four of them.

"Nice one horsey", Connie did his best to not begin roaring with laughter.

"Shut it cue ball."

Armin came between them "Like the coach said, save it for the game, we won't be able to win if you two are still bickering."

Both of them calmed down and retook their seats. Eren, with his pants on the right way this time, came over to them. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in, boys."

"Yeah bite me, Kirschtein."

Marco looked over at Jean "Do you just have the urge to start an argument with everyone today?"

They were interrupted when they were called to board the bus. Who they sat next to surprised no one; Armin and Eren, Jean and Marco, Nac Tias and Mylius Zeramuski, Reiner and Bertholdt. The one 'odd couple' was Thomas and Connie. Armin wondered how the normally reserved Thomas would mingle with the talkative Connie.

Armin did his best to calm his nerves on the bus journey by conversing with his best friend, with little success. Eren didn't fail to notice this "You'll be fine man, once the whistle blows it will all begin to slow down."

"I have no right to be here, Eren."

"Now stop that", his emerald eyes looked right into Armin's deep blue "You made this team because the coaches believe in you, your teammates believe in you,

believe in you."

Armin took in a deep breath "I guess, and I suppose the result of the game rests on my shoulders."

"Just don't miss and we'll be good."

"Yeah sure."

The team got all of their equipment into the away team's dressing room of the Krolva University Cannoneers' Stadium. Krolva was a picturesque town in the same state as Trost; Rosu, it was centred around the university with many of the town's residents being either university students, staff or graduates.

After the equipment manager had set up each team member's locker they all went through their respective pre-match rituals. Reiner and Thomas were both as cool as cucumbers while they read over their game notes. The same could not be said for other members of the Scouts; Bertholdt was sweating profusely, the collar of his tee was now drenched in perspiration. Daz was struggling to keep down his breakfast and rarely removed his head from a bucket. Armin was tempted to join him, his stomach had not settled down since he stepped on the bus nearly two hours ago.

Erwin called them all in, he was going to give them a pre-game speech. "This is it men, for some of you this is nothing new, the first game of the season is our one chance to set a marker for the rest of the year. For the rookies on this team this is the first real opportunity for you to prove yourselves. It's never easy to win on the opening day of the season, less so on the road. If there's one thing I ask of you today it is this; give your hearts!" he gave the salute of the university, all members of the team did the same.

All of them now stood in the tunnel that would bring them onto the field. Bertholdt could feel his hair begin to stick to the inside of his helmet due to the amount of perspiration. The away team, the Scouts would make their entrance first. Gunter, the team's offensive captain would lead them out. The stadium announcer called out the team; "Here are the Trost City University Scouts", the home crowd jeered them as they came out.

 _Jyuu no Tsubasa_ by Linked Horizon was heard from the stadium's speakers as the team jogged from the tunnel to their designated sideline.

It was now time for the team captains to make it out to midfield for the coin toss; Gunter along with Marlowe Freudenberg, the punter and special teams' captain, and Neal Shorne, the defensive captain. The Scouts won the toss and elected to kick in the first half. Marlowe had been chosen to do the kick-off as he had a much stronger leg than Armin.

Marlowe gave the ball an almighty whack sending it out the back of the opposition's end-zone for a touchback. Armin took a seat next to Eren as the Scouts' defense marched onto the field.

Reiner got into his stance, fire in his eyes as he watched the offensive tackle opposite him, the left guard had given away his intentions based on how he was lined up; they were going to double-team him. The quarterback barked the play call "Blue 80, Blue 76, hut, hut!", Reiner recognized that he was looking to fake the snap and make the defense jump offside, but none of them were buying it. The ball was snapped and the opposing lines engaged. Reiner bull rushed the offensive tackle and shoved him to the turf and sped past the left guard. The quarterback only noticed him when it was too late, Reiner put in a crushing hit as he sacked the quarterback for a seven yard loss.

Both of Thomas' eyebrows were raised "Damn, Reiner's a beast."

Bertholdt only nodded "He's been doing that since middle-school, they even tried double-teaming him and that still didn't stop him."

Eren was also in awe "Remind me to never get on his bad side, Bertholdt."

He laughed "Just stay on the same team, Jaeger, and you should be fine."

The next play went less well for the Scouts; the quarterback found the running-back on a screen and gained fourteen yards making it third down and three to go. "Certainly got the moves", Marco huffed. Shadis turned to Connie, "Springer you're in". Connie was about to run on when Armin called to him "Aren't you forgetting something?", he held up Connie's helmet. "Oh", giving a nervous chuckle "Cheers roomie."

As both sides resumed their positions Neal called out the defensive play. They were going to run a zone blitz with a delayed corner blitz from Jean. This way they could play aggressively while preventing a big play from happening. The ball was snapped "Play Action!" called Neal, recognising the ball had not left the quarterback's hands. Jean bided his time before rushing through unblocked. "Got you now", he ran at the QB who saw him at the last second and threw the ball away, Reiner raised his beefy mit and tipped the ball.

Time seemed to stand still for Connie as the ball seemed to float though it was still heading to ground. He was only a yard and a half away from it and dived toward it, bringing the ball into his chest. He had an interception on his very first series, of his very first game of college football. His euphoria wore off when he realized he wasn't touched so he got up and managed to return the interception some ten yards before being brought down by the running-back.

He was swarmed with pats on the back and high-fives, by his teammates as he made his way over to the sideline. "Knock 'em dead lads", he called after the offense as they made their way onto the field. "Congrats man", Marco said to Connie as he sat down next him.

"What can I say, guess I've got the gift."

Eren had to pinch himself as he lined up behind Gunter, here he was playing college football on national television for the opening day of the season. His mother, Carla, had never wanted him nor his half-brother, Zeke, playing such a violent sport, but the stubbornness of the boys had made her relent.

Connie's interception had set them up with great field position at the Cannoneers' 17 yard line. Gunter had called the play; draw, a delayed hand-off to Eren. As the ball snapped Eren did his best to mimic as if he were blocking and then suddenly ran toward Gunter. The offensive line had opened up a nice running lane and he darted through it making a solid seven yard gain before being dragged down from behind; not bad for his first ever run in college football.

Gunter called them into the huddle, "Okay we try play action next; Digs 89 Red."

They all got into position on the ten yard line. "Set, hut!", Gunter shouted over the noise of the Cannoneers' crowd. Eren mimicked taking a hand-off from Gunter and ran into his screen route. Gunter scanned around, Thomas had made a wiggle move on his route that caused whoever was covering him to fall over, he was now wide open on his way to the end-zone. Gunter chose his moment and fired it to the tall receiver.

Thomas looked over his shoulder and saw the ball sail towards him, hauling in the pass with no difficulty, he now had his first ever touchdown in college football. The reserved character that he was, he didn't celebrate, simply handing the ball over to the official and trotted over to the sideline.

It was now Armin's turn to enter the field, Marco joined him as he would play the role as holder during the extra point. The diminutive blonde could not have felt more out of place, the noise levels may have lowered due to the home team's poor start to the game but it was still deafening.

He inhaled deeply as he lined up behind the line waiting for the ball to be snapped and he did his best to mentally block out everything around him. All that mattered now was the kick. Marco, knelt down in anticipation of the snap, gave him a reassuring nod; "You got this", his eyes told Armin. The ball was snapped, secured by Marco and Armin followed through with his kick, sending straight down the middle for the extra point. The Scouts now lead by seven. Bertholdt, one of the blockers during the extra point attempt, came up to Armin and gave him a fist bump. Reiner greeted him when he got back to the sideline "Like I said kid; cake."

The game only got easier there on in for the Scouts, taking a thirteen points to three lead over the Cannoneers into half-time. The successful extra point had lit a fire for Armin's confidence and he had converted three field goals from three attempts at distances of thirty-eight, forty-three and forty-eight yards by the end of the game. Eren really came into his own in the second-half as he finished the game with over one-hundred yards rushing and eighty odd yards in receiving with a touchdown to boot. Bertholdt's vertical advantage was in full view as well, epitomised by his leaping touchdown catch on a deep pass over the middle where he boxed out the defender in classic basketball fashion. He was simply just too tall to cover.

* * *

The Scouts made their way into the locker-room with a spring in their step, not surprising having gone on the road against a tough opponent and coming away with a thirty points to six victory. Eren had the biggest of grins on his face as he celebrated with Armin, Marco and Thomas, when they were interrupted by Levi. "Okay own up Jaeger, where did your improved balance come from?"

"Just hard work and determination, coach Levi."

"Hmm, whatever you say, I still expect further improvement, don't get cocky brat."

Eren slumped back onto the locker bench and let out a frustrated sigh as Levi walked off to find Gunter. "I can't catch a break with him, seriously."

"Hey, don't beat yourself over it", Marco gave him a reassuring hand on his shoulder "He's just a perfectionist, I 'd say he has something to say to everyone on the offense."

"We'll see", he turned to Armin, "You took to the game like a fish to water man, not a single miss all day", he placed a hand on his long-time friend's shoulder, "Now do you believe that you belong on this team?"

"Can't deny the evidence, I suppose."

Eren had decided to sit at the back of the bus to get some rest along with Reiner and Thomas. Armin sat next to Bertholdt on the journey back, the tall brunette seemed content with allowing him to do most of the talking.

Armin excused himself as he felt his phone buzz, it was a text from Annie; "HEY CONGRATS TODAY, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME WITH SOME HOMEWORK, IF YOU'RE NOT TOO BUSY?"

He texted back; "SURE I'M FREE ALL DAY TOMORROW ANYWAY"

"SEE YOU THEN"

Armin turned to see that Bertholdt was smiling at him "What are you so happy about if you don't mind me asking?", though he already knew the answer; he had seen who Armin was texting.

"Oh, nothing, so I heard from Annie you're sort of study-mates now?"

"I guess you could call it that, though it was impromptu."

"Sometimes the best things in life are born out spontaneity."

"That we can agree on, never figured you for a philosopher Bertholdt."

He laughed, "Come on now, buddy it's not like I'm full of hot air."

They were now stopped in traffic and Bertholdt noticed something out the window "Well, get a load of that."

Armin turned his attention to what was outside the window; the cheerleaders bus was stopped next to theirs. The bus' occupants mocked those of the team's bus, blowing kisses, shaking their hips and making kissing faces. Armin recognized Ymir, who placed her cheek against the window. Thomas smiled as he saw Mina give him a flirty wave.

Jean couldn't contain his excitement, "Hey look boys, fresh meat!", Armin swore he saw drool coming from Jean's mouth. Connie rolled his eyes " _Real_

classy."

"You're just jealous 'cause I'm a stud."

All within earshot burst out laughing, Jean's brow became furrowed "What?, It's true!"

"Yeah Kirschtein, you're a stallion", Reiner piped up.

"You're a beast that can't be tamed", Thomas added, eager to get in on the banter.

"I'm not sure the cheerleaders are eager to commit bestiality, man", Eren smirked, having been woken up by the initial laughter. The bus roared with laughter and Jean's face slowly turned bright red.

Armin noticed Sasha fog up the window with her breath and drew a loveheart. "Hey who's the cute brunette?", Nac asked Marco.

"That's Connie's friend; Sasha."

Connie turned to the two of them, "Careful what you wish for, asking her out for a bite to eat will bankrupt you."

* * *

Armin collapsed on his bed after Marco opened the door, Connie had decided to meet up with Sasha, while Marco headed out with Jean for drinks. "Don't know what you're tired from man", Connie shouted to Armin from the living area "Not like you had a lot to do today."

Armin was already drifting off to sleep, he read the clock on his alarm; 5.30 p.m, still too early to go to bed. He took out his book and began to read. He reckoned reading outside on the balcony would help keep him awake for the next couple of hours until it was late enough to go to sleep. As he took his seat he noticed she was on her balcony again, where she was when he saw her for the first time.

Annie had noticed Armin too but decided against attracting his attention, she would see him tomorrow morning after all. She went back inside, Mikasa had since gone out on some social outing with Jaeger, which she couldn't have cared less about. Mina was cuddled up next to Thomas on the couch head resting on his shoulder as they watched

on the TV. She decided she might as well head out for a jog, the last thing she wanted was to make small talk with the happy couple while watching a film she absolutely loathed.

She did manage to say 'goodbye' not too icily as she headed out the door. She looked at her watch, she would have to wait some fifteen hours before seeing blondie again. "Where did that come from?", she thought to herself "Am I really thinking up pet names for him already?" She pushed the thought out of her head as she pulled her hood up and made her way downstairs.


	11. Coming Clean

She rested her head on her elbows, facing towards him, listening intently as he 'helped' her with the statistics homework. Oh quit lying to yourself Leonhardt you will literally make any excuse to see him at this point, she thought to herself. "So, once again we have to find the z-score and from that we get our underlying probability from the z-table. The key is to make the numbers feel relevant to everyday life; say the likelihood of passing a test or-", he turned towards her "Hey are you okay?"

Annie looked up at him, her face solemn but her eyes burning with the same intensity he always saw in them "Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

Why does she always have to answer a question with a question, he thought to himself, "Well, I uh...nothing, forget I asked."

She sat up "No seriously, what's up?"

"Well I've been thinking."

"When are you ever not?", she said in her signature deadpan.

Armin chuckled lightly, partly out of nervousness but he still appreciated her humour "It's just that you're friends with Reiner and Bertholdt, right?"

"Guess so, go on."

"So I was wondering, you know with the study-week party Reiner has organised-"

"You're wondering if I'm going?", she cocked an eyebrow at him.

Neither said anything for nearly two minutes of awkward silence, but from Armin' point of view it felt like a lifetime until Annie said something "I might go if you are going too."

She noticed his azure blue eyes light up "Annie you don't have to go if you don't want to."

She stood up from her chair, crossing her arms and placing all of her weight on one foot, "What's that supposed to mean, because I'm an unsociable, resting bitch-face, heartless, ice queen?", the anger beginning to manifest in her tone, and a scary look to match on her face.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean anything of the sort it's just-", despite his fears he managed to look her right in the eye "I mean it will be a load of college jocks getting drunk in the countryside outside the city."

"Then why are you going?", her expression had softened back to its usual uninterested look.

"I promised Eren and Reiner I would go", he said while looking down at his feet.

She stood there, still looking at him while she focused on her thoughts;, what are you doing?, you might finally be alone with him outside of doing homework for once, Goddammit why can't I let myself be happy? Armin stood up and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder "It's okay Annie, I'm not a huge fan of large social gatherings either, I was practically dragged along to parties by Eren and Mikasa and never enjoyed them", he looked into her ice blue eyes "But that might change if you're there too."

Annie looked away "Why me, though?"

"Because you're a good person Annie, you may not believe it, but you are to me."

"Armin, I'm not I-", her voice began to break and she fought back a lump in her throat "Even when people try to be nice to me, or see me as something other than cold and heartless, I end up pushing them away, how does that make me a good person?", a single tear began roll down her cheek and then she heard her father's voice again. "Toughen up Annie, big girls don't cry, no wonder your mother is no longer with us, having to rear a pathetic brat like you."

Annie turned her head around, "GO AWAY!" she screamed at the voice.

Armin look confused, "Annie there's no one else here?"

She looked around, he was right, the library was completely empty apart from the two of them. She wiped away the tears on the sleeve of her hoodie "I'm so sorry Armin."

He suddenly hugged her "You've nothing to be sorry for."

Her first instinct was to push him away, she wasn't the hugging type, but the warmth of his embrace was so soothing that she let him. She returned his hug and buried her face in his chest. "I think we're done for the day", he said after about a minute. Now is not the time to tell her, he thought to himself, soon though. They both collected their things and he escorted her back to her dorm.

* * *

Some two hours later Armin was working his shift at the campus Starbucks, Historia was on the same shift with him as well. Sunday was typically very slow for the shop, especially this early in the day with most students either still sleeping off their hangovers or having just gone to bed after finishing assignments all night.

Ymir however, usually came in to torture her girlfriend, much to Historia's annoyance.

"Make it quick darling, I hope I won't have to report you to the manager", the biggest smirk was on the tall brunette's face.

Historia gave her a warm smile "Double espresso please, Armin."

"Coming right up", he began working the machine.

"For here or to go, Ymir?"

"Well as much as I'd like to stay and play with you chicken, I need to get to work too, drunks wait for no one, trust me to get a job working in a bar in the one state that sells alcohol before 12 p.m, so to go please."

Armin handed her the coffee, "Now, double espresso."

"Thanks sweetheart", she placed a few quarters in the cup labelled 'tips', "Say hi to Annie for me", she smirked as she saw Armin's face turn bright red. "See ya later babe", giving a kiss on the cheek to Historia, she made her way out of the shop.

Armin rubbed his now sweaty palms on his top and went to the stockroom to get a bag of coffee beans for the machine. The shop became quiet once more as Armin took to emptying the bag of beans into the machine. Historia leaned against the counter, planting an elbow on top to rest her head in her hand, "So I hear you've a thing for Annie."

He dropped the bag and beans scattered all over the floor "Oh, crap", he began scooping them up into his hands before placing them in a bag used to carry pastries. Historia may have been sweet but she was not one to miss out on gossip, she fluttered her eyelashes at him expecting an answer.

"Well, uh, w-we just study together", he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, not from what Ymir told me."

He regained a bit of his composure "I don't know what you're insinuating, we're just friends."

"Can I offer some advice?", she gave him her signature warm smile that always caught people's attention.

"Hmm."

"Don't ever play poker."

"How does Ymir know?"

"A mutual friend she has with Reiner."

Armin simply looked down at his feet arms folded, Historia now felt guilty about making him feel so uncomfortable, "I'm very sorry, it's no business of mine, and I had no right to intrude, but you definitely have a fine taste in girls, is she coming to the party next week?"

"Yeah, she is."

"I'd say make your move then, there should be plenty of spots for the both of you to be alone."

"Look Historia", he brought his head up, "I appreciate the advice and all, but I'm not sure she feels the same way, and I don't want her to think I became friends with her just because I've feelings for her."

"Hmm, from what I've heard both your feelings are mutual."

"Let me guess, Ymir again?"

"Nope, Bertholdt told us."

Armin cursed his look; damn, that colossal lug knew far more than he let on, like the neighbour who peers over the garden wall.

"Look let's just drop it, it's not fair of me to air your innermost feelings so publicly, I enjoy far too much gossip for my own good."

"It's okay, really, I appreciate your advice all the same, thank you."

* * *

Bertholdt was busy putting groceries away when he noticed something on the table, a black A4 sketching pad, it was Annie's, she must've forgotten it when she stopped by earlier. Picking it up he flipped through the pages of the pad. Bertholdt had known Annie since kindergarten, and she was adopted by his family after she ran away from home five years ago, but she had always kept this side of her secret.

He was amazed at the scope of her talent. Beautiful landscapes of lush green valleys, sprawling cityscapes and expansive ocean views, filled with colour. He recognized them as landmarks from back at home, including where the Hoover family do their weekly hike. He flipped through many sketches of popular TV show characters; Homer Simpson, Tony Soprano, Jon Snow, Walter White. She seemed to have a particular liking to anime characters as he recognized many characters from Dragon Ball Z that they used to watch together when they were much younger. There were also several others that he didn't recognise.

As he continued flipping through the pages, he nearly dropped the sketch-pad when he saw Armin Arlert's face staring at him from the page. He double-checked to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him; no he was right, Annie had drawn a perfect likeness of his football teammate, from the blonde coconut of his hair to his deep, blue, expressive eyes and his button nose. He took his phone out, took a picture of the sketch and then sent it to Reiner; "WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS...IN PERSON...BRING EREN TOO."

Some ten minutes later, Reiner, Eren and Mikasa had arrived at the dorm. After a brief introduction between Bertholdt and Mikasa the three of them sat at the table while Bertholdt stood by the window, his back to them. All three studied the sketch for five minutes in absolute silence.

Eren finally spoke up, "Well, there's no doubt that it's Armin, does he know about this?"

"Can't say, I know they study together but that's all I know", Mikasa said in a neutral tone but she was clearly holding back some anger and she remembered her exchange with Annie last week, neither of them had spoken to each other since.

Reiner clapped his hands, "Okay, have either of you noticed Armin acting differently lately?"

"Don't think so", Eren shrugged his shoulders.

Mikasa wasn't sure what to say, she had noticed a chemistry between the two blondes, but the last thing she wanted was to see her close friend, and her rival, become an item. She swallowed her pride and spoke up "About four weeks ago, when we went to lunch together, he did everything in his power to hide his face when Annie walked by the window where we were sitting", she then told them about their awkward introduction to each other in her dorm.

Bertholdt finally spoke up "The first time I met him he practically ran out of the same lecture as Annie's and bumped into me, after I helped him pick up his books, he sprinted away from me when he noticed she was standing right behind him."

"Has Annie acted any differently either?", Eren asked Reiner.

"Not necessarily, no, but we were aware that they were study mates, we were just happy she was making an effort in making new friends."

"But that sketch shows there's something deeper going on", Bertholdt said, rubbing his arm up and down.

"Should we tell them?", Eren asked.

"Bad idea, I can't speak for Armin, but Annie bottles up her emotions, when she's prompted to tell us how she feels, it's as if she feels threatened and hides behind her crystal."

"Crystal?"

"We call it that, when she decides to isolate herself, we can see something's bothering her but there's nothing we can do to break her out of it, excuse the metaphor."

Mikasa spoke again "Has she ever had a relationship with anyone?"

"Not one that we were aware of, no, I'm not sure she's ever been kissed either", Reiner rested his head in his hand, "And what about Armin?"

"He has kissed at least one person, though he's never had a girlfriend."

"Reiner, should we really be pushing them together like this?"

"You'll need to excuse Bert, she's like a sister to both of us, but more so to him, since she is his adopted sister."

"Look, Annie's had it rough, she doesn't mean to be cold, she just has difficulty becoming close with others, without revealing too much here, her father treated her horribly, hence why my family adopted her", he then sighed deeply "I don't want to see her get hurt."

Mikasa felt a pang of guilt hit her in the stomach, how could she have been so cruel, she had no right to treat Annie the way she had. Sure she had been protective of both Eren and Armin, but that was no excuse. "Armin is one of the most kind-hearted people there is, like you with Annie, I don't want to see him get hurt either, but clearly there's more than a spark between them, and it appears neither of them are aware that their feelings for each other are mutual."

"But how do we go about this?", said Eren, his eyes still focused on the sketch of his best friend.

"The party, this week, we get them alone together outside of a study session, for once", Reiner stood up.

"I have an idea", Eren's eyes lit up, "Can you forge Annie's handwriting?"

Bertholdt shrugged "I guess, why?"

"We write forged notes, asking both of them to meet the other, Armin's very observant I've no doubt he'll recognise her handwriting when he sees it, and typing it up would look far too dodgy."

"I'll write Armin's one, handwriting has never been you strength Eren."

He raised both of his hands concedingly "No argument there, Raven."

"So it's settled then", Bertholdt turned to Reiner "Reiner, right here, now, we're doing this?"

"Yes, right here, right now, we settle this once and for all", a smile formed on his face "They're meant to be together, I've noticed her eyes whenever I mention Armin's name, by this time next week, Annie will have finally found someone who she isn't afraid to get close too, she deserves happiness Bert, after all she's been through."

Eren felt butterflies in his stomach, he remembered how Armin's crush on Mina during their high-school years had tortured his best friend, he didn't want to see him go through that again. But what if Armin didn't have feelings for Annie? This plan of theirs could not only crush one person's feelings but also end a budding friendship, did they really have any right to interfere in things such as this?

Mikasa had noticed the trepidation appearing on her boyfriend's face and placed a reassuring hand in his. "Eren", he looked up at her "Have faith, Armin won't get hurt, he's matured exponentially since his crush on Mina."

Eren squeezed her hand tightly "I hope you are right."

Their plan was now in motion.


	12. Wager

(Marco POV)

He was beginning to regret not offering to drive as Jean sped into another corner "You should slow down man, I don't think this car was built to speed through the woods."

"Oh shut up Marco, we're still on asphalt, I'll slow down once we go off road."

In the back seats, Mina clutched onto Thomas' arm tightly, she was no speed junkie, something that did not go unnoticed from Jean, "I take it you're not a fan of rollercoasters either, Mina?"

Mina laughed, albeit nervously, "What gave it away?"

Despite all of this Armin, who was also seated in the back with them, was reading.

Marco leaned back in his seat and looked at Armin through the rearview mirror "I bet you'd have your head buried in a book even during an earthquake, Armin."

"You're probably right, though I would get to safety first, of course."

Jean, much to the relief of the other passengers, began to slow down as he brought the car through a dirt trail that would lead them to the party's location.

Marco took out his phone and texted Connie to let them know they'd be at the spot in a few minutes. Connie texted back that they would be delayed due to multiple bathroom breaks and Ymir getting pulled over for a speeding ticket. "How's Connie getting here?", Jean asked, turning on the full beams of the car. "He got a lift with Sasha and her roommate Historia, whose girlfriend has a car."

"Is Historia's girlfriend that tall one with the freckles?"

"Yeah, her name's Ymir, what about her?"

"She threw me out of the bar the other night, I mean literally threw me."

"That's what you get for overindulging", Thomas remarked from the back.

Jean narrowed his eyes "Wanna walk the rest of the way, I'm pretty sure bears are only about half a click away from here?"

Thomas just raised his hands concedingly, Marco rested his head in his hand and leaned against the passenger window "He's got a point you know, you should dial it back a little."

Jean just rolled his eyes "We are NOT having this discussion again, and definitely not here of all places."

Armin, sensing things were about to get heated, spoke up "So, does anyone know why Reiner chose this spot in particular?"

Thomas scratched his head,"Well I guess we can go a little crazy without having to worry about the cops."

Mina sighed, "Well it certainly should be easier to find someplace quiet than some nightclub in the city", she placed a hand on her boyfriend's chest, Marco and Jean both made mock retching noises. Mina rolled her eyes "Typical singles, no offense Armin."

"None taken."

* * *

(Connie POV)

"Fucking asshole", Ymir growled after the motorcycle cop sped away.

"I told you to slow down", Historia huffed.

"Oh please, anything above 30 miles per hour is too fast for you."

"To be fair you were going at 70 on a road with a speed limit of 50", Connie laughed.

"Oh and I'm sure that wasn't you whooping and shouting 'faster' from the back then, eh Springer?"

"Try to keep it steady though, please, I almost dropped my burger."

Connie rolled his eyes, "There'll be food there, you know?"

Sasha tucked into her burger "You might enjoy pork rinds and potato chips for dinner but I don't."

"That didn't stop you from gorging yourself on them in my house before we left for prom."

Sasha sputtered and punched him in the shoulder "Connieeee", Ymir exploded with laughter.

"You should've seen it guys, she nearly ruined both her dress and her date's tux, crumbs everywhere", his fun was cut short when Sasha put him in a headlock "Okay I give, I give, take a joke every once in awhile!"

"Jeez, for a football player you certainly are useless when trying to get out of a headlock FROM A GIRL", Ymir roared with laughter.

"Whatever", he sighed as he leaned back into his seat.

"I mean, we could try to see how you do against me, shorty", she looked at him through the rearview and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll pass", he scrunched his nose "And I'm not that short, you're just abnormally tall."

" 5'11'' and proud of it baby."

Historia piped up "Being proud of the fact that you're tall is stupid."

"Typical coming from you pipsqueak", she tousled the blonde's hair.

They suddenly went over a pothole, "Woah, sorry folks, wasn't paying attention there, everyone okay?"

"My burger", moaned Sasha, Historia looked behind her to see the damage; the burger and all of its contents had fallen into Connie's lap "Ah man, I just bought these jeans yesterday", he picked up a slice of onion and threw it out the window "Got any paper towels, Ymir?"

* * *

(Eren POV)

He had never considered himself as someone who sweated when nervous, but he was beginning to become self-conscious of the perspiration that dripped down his temples. Here he was with the three other people he had plotted together with to set up his best friend with the girl to his immediate right, who was oblivious to the whole thing.

Mikasa had noticed and placed a reassuring hand in his. Annie was leaning against the window her hand cupping her chin, the same disinterested look on the blonde's face as she stared outside. She was wondering why everyone had been so quiet, they had gotten into the car about half an hour ago and none of them had bothered trying to have a conversation. Reiner had turned the radio on when they initially set out but gradually started losing signal as the car went deeper into the countryside outside Trost. The inside of the car was now completely silent except for the sound of radio static.

Eren decided to put his mind at ease by playing with his phone, his mind focused on _Candy Crush_

as Reiner began to bring the car up a steep incline. "Almost there", Reiner announced. Eren noticed Bertholdt shift nervously in his seat; _looks like I'm not the only one who's nervous._

* * *

(Armin POV)

The party was now in full swing, the signal had improved since they were now at a higher altitude which allowed for less interference from the surrounding mountains. Jean had managed to get his spotify working and connected it to the large speaker he brought from home. Nac and Millius were playing a game of beer pong, while Eld, Gunter and a few others, including Armin, Thomas and Mina, were deep into a game of Cards Against Humanity.

It was Marco's turn to read out the black card, "She's up all night for good fun. I'm up all night for-", he picked up Thomas and Mina's card "10 football players with erections barrelling towards you at full speed." Unsurprisingly almost everyone fell on their backs laughing. "Might be difficult to top that one, okay", he read out the card again and then picked up Oluo's card; "Fucking my sister", after everyone had recovered from their latest bout of laughter, Armin went off to get some food.

Armin had hoped that there would still be nachos left, but was left sorely disappointed when all that greeted him was an empty bowl. He was about to turn away when Reiner bumped into him: "Hey man, having fun?"

"I guess, pity there's no nachos left."

"You can thank Springer's pal for that, what was her name, oh uh-"

Armin already knew the answer "Sasha Braus."

"That's the one, anyway", he wrapped one arm around the much shorter blond "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, just remember not to overindulge, practise is back in three days."

Reiner slyly slid the forged note into the back-pocket of Armin's pants, he thanked his blessings that he hadn't noticed.

He took a look at Armin's empty hands "Up bup bup, you know the rules; no teetotaling unless you're a designated driver", he grabbed a cup from a nearby table and then filled it at one of the kegs, "Here", he handed it to Armin.

"Thanks, I guess", he took a sip " _Absolute bile_ ", he thought to himself.

"Hey don't mention it", he slapped Armin on the back "Have fun."

Armin did his best not to gag after sipping the lager, being students they probably weren't able to afford any quality brands. He took a seat again while the game still went on, though he only observed this time. As he readjusted his position he felt something in the back-pocket of his jeans. He took out the mystery item, it was a piece of paper, folded over with his name on it, there was a loveheart dotted over the 'i'.

Armin recognized the handwriting; it was Annie's. He walked away to find some privacy and then read the contents of the message; "I need to talk to you, someplace quiet meet me by the clearing overlooking the lake, till then - Annie."

Armin put the note away, and began to think deeply. It wasn't like Annie to write notes, she was more of a texting person. But it was her handwriting, he had seen it enough times to recognise it was hers, no else wrote their vowels like she did. _What do I do?, I haven't seen her at all during the party, did she end up coming in the end?_

Eren watched his friend from afar, sipping his drink as he focused on him. _Come on Armin, take the bait._ Mikasa watched with him, her fingers tugged at the end of her scarf. Though her face maintained its signature stoic expression, it hid the overwhelming emotions she felt as she watched Armin read the note. The both of them felt all of the tension in the air dissipate as they saw Armin begin to make his way to the secret location.

* * *

(Annie POV)

She sat on a bench, sipping her drink, looking as disinterested as ever. However this time she really didn't care. _Why did I even bother coming here?_ She looked across at Jean and Marco who were sitting with Ymir and Historia. The tall brunette said something, pointed at Jean and Marco before bursting out in VERY loud laughter. Both boys blushed as Historia crossed her arms and glared at her girlfriend.

"Fuck this shit", she muttered under her breath, she realized she had now finished her drink and got up to get another one. As she walked towards the beer keg with her cup, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It took all of her willpower to resist the urge to flip the owner of said hand over her back. "Hey, Annie, are you having fun?"

She turned around "Mina", she noticed that she was, once again, accompanied by her boyfriend, "I guess, there's free booze anyway."

She felt something brush behind her and snapped her head back. Mikasa had walked by but Annie couldn't figure out what exactly had happened. She shrugged and turned back to the couple. "Well that's all you need, I suppose, for college students to have fun; booze, music and space." Annie just shrugged "I guess", she said nonchalantly, she took a look at her phone; it was just after ten o'clock, still three more hours of this and then she could go home and look forward to studying with Armin the day after tomorrow.

Everything froze for her then and there; _Armin? How could I have forgotten? He's like me; he hates these sort of social gatherings, he said that her being here was the only thing that got him excited about attending._ She excused herself as she went off to find him, as she placed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie she felt something.

She took it out to see that it was a piece of paper, folded over with her name written across it. She opened it up, it was a note of sorts; "We need to talk, somewhere private. The clearing overlooking the lake, looking forward to it - Armin." Annie placed a hand over her mouth, she could've sworn she had heard a small squeal escape from her lips. Maybe this night wouldn't be so dull after all.

* * *

She made her way to the clearing, the noise from the party was barely audible through the tall trees. She swore she could hear the heavy pounding of her heartbeat in the calmness of the night. Despite it being late September, the weather was still mild, a light breeze blew through her hair, and she welcomed its cooling embrace as it helped lower the heat she felt emanating from her face.

She looked around, there was no sign of him, what could have been so important that he had to send her a note, and not a text? She also hadn't seen him all night, so how had he managed to plant the note on her person, he was hardly the most stealthy of people, unless, had Mikasa been the one who did it for him?

She rubbed her temples with her hands and took a seat near the cliff's edge to gather her thoughts. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. It was then she heard his voice; "Annie?"

Armin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he had not felt this nervous around her in a while, sure he had managed to find the courage to go up and talk to her that time in the library nearly four weeks ago, but the circumstances then could not have been more different than they were now. "Armin", she responded without looking at him.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

She shrugged "Knock yourself out I guess." He took a seat to her left.

"So, what's so important that you had to send me a written note?", she turned her head towards him, the same expression she always had on her face.

He raised both eyebrows, his eyes wide "W-what, wait I never sent you a note."

"Armin, please, let's not play this game."

"Annie", he took a deep breath "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

She returned his sigh "Armin you're much smarter than me, hell you're a certifiable genius, but what kind of fool do you take me for?", the frustration was beginning to show in her voice.

"Annie I-"

"UGH JUST STOP!", she flung a piece of paper at him causing him to let out a small yelp, "Explain that."

Armin opened up the scrunched up paper and read it quietly under his breath, "This isn't mine."

"Armin please, stop playing with me."

He suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and looked right into her eyes, "Annie please believe me, I did not write this note."

Annie stared back into his eyes, those sapphire orbs were telling the truth. He sat back down beside her and pulled out his pocket diary.

"Here", he opened up a few pages and showed her the comparison between the writing in his diary and that of the note's. She didn't want to believe it, the writing although very similar, was indeed not Armin's. While she was happy that he was being honest with her, a part of her wished that he had written the note.

"Perhaps you could explain this to me", he took out a piece of paper of his own. Annie took it from him and read it. "Nope, not mine."

"Are you sure, it is your writing?"

"It's a very well done copy but it's not mine", she sighed and looked to her right, "But I know who did write it."

"Who?"

"Bertholdt."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He always writes his 'ts' that way."

"Then, hang on a sec", he snatched the note from her.

"Hey, what're you-"

He began to look back and forth between both notes, "They're both forgeries of our handwriting, look", he pointed at the words in both of them "They've both been written using tracing paper."

"Any idea who wrote the one you supposedly sent me?"

"Mikasa, has to be, the writing is almost too perfect a replica, regular handwriting has a lot of randomness to it, varying size of letters and consistent but not too consistent shape."

Annie caught herself giggling "Only you could figure that out."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, the moon then came out from behind the clouds. It lit up the clearing and the valley below them, the moonlight radiated from the lake. Despite being in the outskirts of one of the largest cities in the country, there was not a hint of light pollution from Trost. Armin had noticed the light of the moon had lit up Annie's face, her pale skin was now milky white, her hair had a silver tint and her ice blue eyes reflected the moonlight. "You're beautiful", he covered his mouth with his hand, he had not meant to say that out loud.

In the bushes nearby, Reiner, Eren, Mikasa and Bertholdt watched the scene unfold. Eren was struggling to keep his emotions in check; _Damn, this isn't going the way we planned, and Armin might've blown it._

Annie turned her head to him, her eyes wide, "What?"

"Uh, t-the view, it's uh beautiful."

"No, you said that I'm beautiful?"

"I uh-"

"It's okay, I appreciate the sentiment but you don't have to tell me lies to make me feel better."

"Lies?"

"I know I'm not beautiful, I think you need to have your eyes examined."

"Annie-"

"I mean look at my nose, it's grotesque."

"You're not-"

"And please, since when is resting bitch face attractive?"

 _Oh to hell with it_.

"Let's face the facts, I'm an ugly girl with an uglier personality, I'm a terrible person who doesn't deserve someone like you and-"

His lips met hers.

Annie was speechless and not just from having the boy of her dreams' lips on hers. She didn't know how to respond, was this how people kissed? She felt her heart flutter, she had waited for this moment for so long, but now that it was happening she was utterly clueless what she should do. Watching from afar the four voyeurs held their collective breaths.

Armin withdrew quickly, he studied her facial expression, Annie looked stupefied, "Annie I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me", he watched her brush her hair behind her ear, "But I won't just sit here and watch you devalue yourself like that, you ARE beautiful and you ARE a good person, to me anyway, who says you don't deserve happiness, life doesn't work that way. If there's one person in this world who deserves happiness it's you Annie Leonhardt."

Annie stood up and It felt like an eternity before she responded; she began to laugh. Armin didn't know what was happening, had she become unhinged? The four in the bushes stared intently, Bertholdt was sweating profusely. "This isn't working, we need to stop this", Eren whispered, beginning to stand up until Reiner stopped him with a firm grip on his shoulder. Reiner recognized the laugh, it was one of relief, the relief of someone who finally felt that they no longer had to lie to themselves anymore. "Just watch", he told Eren.

Annie stopped laughing and let out a relieved sigh, "Don't worry I wasn't laughing at you, but you know Armin it's nice that I can be a good person for you." She bent down and sat on her heels, "Are you a gambling man Armin Arlert?

"Uh, sorry?"

"Well I like to gamble, for now you may have won your little bet", she undid her messy bun, letting her platinum blonde hair fall to her shoulders, "But, I'm going to gamble too", she placed both of her hands on his cheeks "And here's my wager." She returned his kiss this time, long and deep and used her weight to push the both of them onto the soft ground of the clearing, their lips still locked tightly. He brought his hands to her hips as she caressed his soft cheeks.

Reiner and Eren bumped fists, Bertholdt and Mikasa gave each other silent smiles. Their gambit had succeeded. The four of them left, giving both Armin and Annie some well earned privacy, not that either of them had been aware of the presence of their friends.


	13. Warmth

The three of them had not eaten out together since the start of the college year, despite

being friends for over a decade. Reiner and Bertholdt could not help but smile; their friend was beginning to become comfortable in her own skin. She began wearing her signature white and grey hoodies less and less, she began to put more of an effort into her physical appearance, being brave enough to wear eyeliner, and she had started untying her messy bun and let her hair down more frequently as well. But the biggest and most welcome change was her attitude. She was no longer blunt with people and she even began to smile, albeit it was always a small one.

This was barely a week after her fateful meeting with Armin at the party, the two of them would have their first date together tomorrow. Bertholdt had noticed how they both complimented each other; Annie becoming more open and less cold was mirrored by Armin's increased confidence and skill on the practise field, no doubt motivated by having her watching him from the sideline. Despite this, the two of them kept public displays of affection to a minimum, something that all of their friends respected.

Annie put her phone away and looked up to see both of them looking at her, "What's up?"

"Oh nothing", Reiner leaned his chin in both of his hands as he propped his elbows on the table "Just enjoying how happy you are."

She flicked a salt packet at him "Ugh, barf."

"There's the Annie we know and love, where've you been the past week?", Bertholdt smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes, but the tiniest of smiles was on her face, "Getting away from you two giant freaks."

"Ow, you wound us with your cruel, cruel words."

"Oh, are the big bad football players hurt by some banter between friends?"

The rest of their evening went off mostly without a hitch, Annie had caught Bertholdt ogling their attractive waiter. She couldn't blame him, he hadn't had a boyfriend since his junior year in high-school. Given his role in bringing her and Armin together, she now felt obligated to return the favour to her adoptive brother. Though she wasn't confident in her abilities as a wingwoman, plus there was no telling whether the waiter was attracted to men, not to mention whether Bertholdt was interested in starting a relationship.

They were now walking back to their respective dorms, it was only 7 p.m but the approaching winter had made it dark outside. As they walked in silence Annie spoke up "You know, nothing's going to happen if you just stand there watching", she looked up at Bertholdt who began to sputter, "W-what, I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Huh, who's the one not being honest with themselves now, eh?"

"Caught red-handed, Bert", Reiner laughed.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Right, so I only imagined seeing you take a peek at the waiter when he bent over that time."

"Wha- Reiner it's not like that!"

"Suit yourself man", he shrugged, they had stopped outside the girls' dormitory and said goodnight to Annie who gave a silent nod in response.

The remainder of the original trio had resumed their journey to their dorms.

"Annie's right Bertholdt, you need to be proactive if you hope to meet guys."

The taller of them sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead while closing his eyes "I know, but what do I even say, it's safe to say I'm more than a little rusty in that department?"

"Just be yourself, don't pretend to be something you're not."

"So says every last bit of advice when it comes to talking to someone you're attracted to."

"Sorry if I'm not being original, you know me; words aren't my strong suit."

"No, it's fine, I appreciate it all the same, both of you are right as well", he stopped in his tracks "Christ, look at me, giving how I pushed Annie and Armin together and here I am making the same mistakes Annie was."

His childhood friend placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it, but you can't make your way through life hoping others will take the initiative for you." He rubbed his arms up and down, "Come on let's get back inside I'm freezing my nuts off out here."

* * *

Armin hummed to himself as he picked out his attire for his date, he had decided to go smart casual, there was no need to go over the top just yet. He chose a dark blue sweater that matched his eyes along with tan chinos. He was interrupted by a knock on his door, "Come in."

Connie opened the door "Hey man, Mikasa dropped this off just now", he was holding a small package in his hand. "Oh thanks, just leave it on the bed, please."

"Will do", he looked at Armin's arrangement on the bed "So, tonight's the night, huh?"

"Yep."

"How are the nerves?"

"All over the place to be honest", he laughed nervously.

"Ah, you'll be fine, the two of you have been alone together before, the setting doesn't change it that much."

"I guess, though we weren't a, well I don't really know what we are, back then."

Connie laughed, "Just say it man, Annie's your girlfriend and you're her boyfriend, even I know that."

 _Girlfriend,_ the mere mention of the word made his heart rate increase, he still couldn't believe how lucky he was. All it took was boldly stealing a kiss from the girl who still remained a mystery to him, to arrive at this point. _Oh God, please don't let me mess this up._

Connie, despite not being the most perceptive of people, had noticed the worry on his friend's face, "Hey, you'll be fine buddy, the two of you have some sort of spark, just be yourselves, and hopefully this won't end in disaster,"

"You're right, I'm overthinking this."

"I'll let you go and get ready."

After getting changed, he picked up the package Mikasa had sent him, it was a small leather box, wrapped in protective paper. He, gingerly, opened the box, inside was a bottle of cologne, with a small note attached to its neck. He plucked it off and began to read it; "It's about time you started using this. Have fun and just be yourself, love you always - Mikasa."

 _Short, simple and sweet, classic Mikasa._

He sprayed a small amount on to his wrist and took a sniff. _Not bad, at least she didn't give me the same one Eren has._ He looked at the name on the bottle, it was the same brand as Eren's but was a different variant, he read the label; 'Deepest Ocean', he couldn't help but laugh. He took out his phone and texted Annie to let her know he'd be there in half an hour.

* * *

Annie huffed as she looked at the pile of clothes on her bed, she had spent a solid twenty minutes going through her wardrobe to find something for her date; no luck. She turned her head to a knock on her door, "Annie, it's Mina, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure", she sat down at her desk chair.

Mina's eyes were wide when she saw the mess Annie had made and managed to put two and two together; "Can't find anything to wear?"

Annie only nodded in response, her eyes focusing on her feet. Mina tapped her chin with her index finger, deep in thought, "Wait one second I'll be right back."

She left the room and came back with a dress in her hands "Here, I want you to have it."

Annie looked at the dress, it was made from silk and shared the same ice-blue colour of her eyes. Annie was speechless, she never cared much for clothes, hence her assortment of jeans and hoodies, but this dress enchanted her, the shoulder straps were thin and it looked like it came down to just above knee level. "Are you sure?", she asked Mina.

"Positive."

"But why?"

"Why not, I have too many dresses and I hardly ever wear this?"

"That's not what I meant, I don't deserve it."

"Annie?"

"I've been nothing but cold to you ever since we met, why are you being so nice to me?", she sighed and walked over to the other side of the room, rubbing her arm up and down.

Mina walked over to her, "Annie, sit down, please", to her surprise she did as she said. "Look at me", Annie looked up at her, the usually emotionless face was betrayed by her eyes which conveyed hurt. "Anyone who offers kindness and expects it in return, is no kind person, I'm being nice to you because it's the right thing to do, the _human_ thing to do."

"But this, being with Armin, you offering me your dress, I don't deserve any of it."

"The only one who thinks that is yourself."

Annie started fidgeting with her hair, "Do you want me to help with your hair too, Annie?"

"You don't have to."

"No, I want to, you have really pretty hair, it deserves to be pampered."

"Whatever you say", Annie undid her bun, her shoulder length hair was now plain for Mina to see, who reached out to it causing the blonde to flinch, "Can I?", she asked her.

Annie took in a deep breath, "Go ahead."

Mina ran her fingers through the platinum blonde hair "It's so soft and smooth and _straight_!"

"Is that a good thing?"

"You've no idea, I can do a lot with this."

Some twenty minutes later Mina was finishing up with Annie's hair, she had styled it to make a fringe over Annie's forehead and had curved the ends of her hair upward to make them kiss her neck. As Annie stood up, Mina nearly gasped at how beautiful she looked, she was aware that Annie would be seen as attractive but having done away with her bun and baggy hoodies, it was like she was looking at a different person. The dress complimented her figure nicely, displaying her toned, shapely legs and womanly curves. Mina covered her mouth with her hands and squealed, "Oh my God you're absolutely stunning."

"You think so?"

"Of course!"

"Do you think Armin will like it?" there was a hint of nervousness in her voice

"Well if he doesn't I think it will be safe to say he doesn't like girls", she was taken aback when Annie let out a small laugh in response "Thank you Mina, for everything."

"Just being a friend Annie."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door, and Mina eagerly waltzed over to it, giving a warm smile and nod to Annie as he began to open it. Outside of it, Armin took a deep breath and fiddled with the rose in his hand as Mina opened the door, "Hey Armin, right on schedule."

"Tardiness has never been my thing", he looked behind Mina and his breath became caught in his throat, and he almost dropped the rose when he saw the platinum blonde-headed goddess opposite him. He knew she was beautiful, but from his perspective she looked absolutely angelic.

"I'll give the two of you some privacy", Mina smiled, heading to her bedroom, struggling to fight back her giggles in the process.

"Eh, h-hi Annie."

"Hey, Armin."

He regained his composure and smiled warmly at her "As if I thought you were out of my league already."

"Oh, please, you don't look half bad yourself, blondie", she rubbed her arm up and down again, "This dress isn't even mine, it's Mina's."

"I said you could keep it", Mina called from her bedroom.

Annie ignored the fact that her roommate was likely eavesdropping on the pair of them, "So uh, should we get going?"

"Might as well, oh I almost forgot", he handed her the rose "Here."

Annie had a small smile on her face as she twirled the rose between her fingers, not noticing that Armin had taken her coat and was holding it open for her to put it on. "Oh, thank you."

They both headed out.

Half an hour later the two short blondes were sitting at a table in a small Italian restaurant just a short minute walk from campus. "No way, a black belt?, he asked her eyes wide with wonder.

"Yep, reached the rank by the time I was twelve."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Oh don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

"Yeah can't say I'm of any use in combat, Eren and Mikasa were the ones who came to my rescue whenever the neighbourhood bullies targeted me, well it was mostly Mikasa, since she had to end up saving Eren too."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"I know, he may have calmed down a little but Eren's been known to charge headfirst into something with little forethought."

For the majority of the evening it was Armin who did most of the talking not that either of them minded. She was eager to hear what he had to say, and he relished the opportunity to tell her about his wide knowledge of the world, be it history, travel or science. He became further encouraged by the interest conveyed by her ice-blue orbs, though the rest of her face remained stoic, her eyes, that only he could tell, were clearly showing deep interest. _He has such a way with words, I don't know how I could even try to contribute to what he has to say_.

They decided to cut through the park that separated them from the University campus. It may have been dark but it was lit up by the old style lanterns that lined the various paths of it. Armin eyed an unoccupied bench near the the university entrance of the park, "Hey, let's sit here for a bit I need to show you something."

Annie shrugged "Sure, why not?"

They took their seats and leaned back slightly on the bench, Armin pointed a little towards their left "So that there is Pisces, the Fishes, it is one of six constellations that can be seen between October and December and only in the Northern Hemisphere, hence we should count ourselves lucky to be in the part of the country that's north of the Equator."

Annie leaned her head against his shoulder as he spoke, she felt that she could spend the rest of her days listening to him speak about the stars, the ocean, or whatever, he could talk about literally manure and she swore he would find a way to make it sound interesting.

She noticed Armin was shivering slightly, "Armin are you okay?"

"S-sure, why do you ask", the chattering of his teeth betrayed his sensitivity to the cold.

She placed a hand on his neck "No, you're not, you're freezing", she handed him her scarf "Here, wrap up."

"Thanks, but I'm fine Annie."

"You need it far more than I do", she wrapped it around him and tied it "There."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Meh, just helping someone in need, besides I can just zip my coat up, yours is definitely not suited for this."

"You're right, I never factored in the wind chill, I'm just hoping it won't be as bad tomorrow, when the game is on."

"Any chance of securing a ticket for me?"

"I already did, any chance I can go to your match next week."

"You don't have to ask."

"Well I didn't want to be a source of distraction."

Annie smirked and flicked his chin "You tease, it's not like you're all I think about." _Liar_ she thought to herself.

"We should probably head back inside, I don't want you to start offering any more of your clothes to me."

"Pfft, the scarf was all you were going to get."

When Armin escorted her back to her dorm he began to untie the scarf when she stopped him "Keep it until tomorrow, you still need to make it back to your dorm without catching something."

"Thanks."

They stood there for thirty seconds of pure silence, save for the rattling of the approaching winter wind on the nearby bike rack. He took her hand in his "I really enjoyed tonight Annie, I hope you did too."

She nodded "I don't see how you did, I'm not much of a conversationalist, sorry about that."

"Annie please, it never has to be 50-50."

"No, but this does," she closed the space between them and he knew what to do next. Their lips met with her arms draped around his shoulders and his hands on her waist, neither of them could've cared less if campus security caught them. They eventually broke their passionate kiss, "See you tomorrow", she whispered against his lips, she then gave him a peck on the cheek and headed inside, not before giving him a smile, the one she only reserved for him, to which he returned to her. Armin walked back to his dorm with a spring in his step, maybe it was his imagination, but he could've sworn it didn't seem as cold as it was before.


	14. The Titans

**(A/N: First off, sincere apologies for the delay, I've been swamped with both work and college assignments for the past two weeks {Oh, farewell dear sleep}. So the story is really going to pick up over the next couple of chapters. This is also the beginning of the Eren x Mikasa {Eremika} arc as well. Once again, reviews are deeply appreciated, thank you. Also whenever the text appears in bold, it's the commentator, just in case there's any confusion.)**

8 years ago:

 _A carnival atmosphere had descended upon the city of Shiganshina, the city was hosting its first ever college football National Championship Game and one of the hometown universities; Maria University Tigers had advanced to the game. Their opponent would be one of the most dominant teams in college football history; The University of Marley Titans._

 _Eren, Armin and Mikasa were gathered around the television set, Eren was covered, from head to toe, in the colours of the Tigers, Armin lay on his stomach, his head propped up on his elbow, while Mikasa sat cross-legged with her signature red scarf removed, for once, in favour of a Tigers' one. Eren's mother Carla was finishing preparations for Dinner in the kitchen while she conversed with Armin's grandfather. Zeke and Grisha had managed to get tickets for the game._

 _Eren huffed as the Titans scored again, the scoreline now read 46-8 to the Titans, "Ugh, screw this", his mother's sharp ear caught him out "Eren Jaeger, we do not use that kind of language in this house!"_

" _But, mom look at the score!"_

" _Eren I know, it hurts me too, but it's still only a game, there are more important things in life."_

" _Right, sorry."_

 _Armin's grandfather gave Eren a pat on the back "He's only being passionate Carla, boy's got some spirit, I betcha the scoreline will be reversed once Eren, hopefully, suits up in a few years time", he smiled at him._

 _Carla resumed preparing the dinner, "Hey, I know what will cheer you guys up", he opened his wallet and took out five Eldian dollars "Buy yourselves some ice-cream, but don't spoil your appetites."_

" _Mr Arlert, I can't accept you giving your money away like that."_

" _Ah, it's fine Carla, it's a beautiful day out, perfect ice-cream-eating weather, here", he handed the money to Eren._

" _Thank you so much Mr. Arlert."_

" _Well Carla, at least he has manners."_

 _A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting down in the park, soaking up the remainder of the mid-March sun. "Don't eat too much now, you'll never play football if you stuff your face with ice-cream."_

 _The three recognised the source of the husky voice "Hey, officer Hannes", Eren said without looking._

" _Couldn't bear to watch the rest of the game?", the police officer sighed, "I feel ya, I lost 90 dollars bettin' on the Tigers."_

 _Armin looked up at him, "Shouldn't you have placed a different bet, the odds weren't favourable at all for the Tigers."_

 _Hannes laughed "If only I had your analytical mind Arlert, but then there'd be no fun in betting."_

" _Has there been any trouble with rowdy fans?", Mikasa asked him._

" _The usual, but nothing we can't handle, the next half hour will be tough once the game finishes, Titans fans have a reputation alright."_

 _An audible cheer distracted them for a second, "Well looks like the game's over", he placed his hat on his head, "Make sure you guys get home, it could get a little hairy here in awhile."_

 _He walked off whistling, "Good to see he wasn't drunk this time."_

" _Eren!", Mikasa scolded him._

" _He's a cop, he shouldn't be drinking on duty."_

" _Eren you only saw him drunk on duty once, that doesn't mean he does it regularly, what's up with you you've been on edge since we got here."_

 _He shrugged, "I don't know, there's something in the air that I can't describe, I've a bad feeling about today."_

 _Armin looked around "It's gotten very quiet all of a sudden, too quiet even."_

 _They all decided to head back._

 _They were only a few blocks away from their neighbourhood when they heard the screeching of tires, followed by a loud crash. Mikasa, spun her head around to see that a car had sped around a corner and driven into the front window of a nearby shop. Four drunken men stepped out "MARLEY TITANS RULE!" they shouted as they proceeded to vandalise the store. The three kids decided not to stick around to see what would happen once the inebriated hooligans finished._

 _Eren did his best to bottle up his anger as he watched them vandalise property in his hometown. He picked up a small rock, "Eren DON'T!" Armin rushed to stop him but it was too late, he hurled it at the men, striking one of them on the temple. "AGH", he turned towards, the kids, "You little shit, I'll rip you in two!", he charged towards them but was suddenly tackled from behind by a police officer "GET HOME!", he barked at them. Mikasa grabbed Eren's arm and dragged him away from the scene._

" _Oh thank God", Carla ran towards them wrapping both Eren and Mikasa in a hug, Armin received the same from his grandfather. "Your, parents are here as well Mikasa."_

" _A riot has broken out in town", said Mr. Ackerman, "We were watching it on TV and were terrified that you might've gotten caught in it."_

 _Eren watched the scenes unfold on the television, cars were set ablaze in the city centre, storefronts smashed, cop cars overturned, and the police decked out in riot gear, it was like a warzone. "Those animals", growled Mrs. Ackerman as she hugged Mikasa tightly, "All this over a football game, I'd hate to see what they would have done if they had lost."_

 _Carla was biting her nails on one hand and the landline clutched in the other, she still hadn't heard from Grisha or Zeke. There was a palpable sense of fear, tension and worry as Carla's eyes remained fixed on the chaotic scenes on the evening news. The phone finally rang and the whole room went silent. She nervously picked up the phone, "Grisha?, she breathed a sigh of relief and tears began to roll down her cheeks, "Are you and Zeke okay?"._

" _We're fine Carla, we left early, Zeke and I are at the hospital, none of us are hurt, but they may need me tonight, I'll send Zeke home once it dies down, DO NOT LEAVE the house unless it's an emergency."_

" _We won't Grisha, I love you", Carla was close to sobbing._

" _Stay safe, I love you too, all of you", he hung up._

 _A few hours later Zeke came in the door, escorted by a police officer, "What happened?", she asked looking at the police officer._

" _Don't worry Mrs. Jaeger, he's not in trouble, we had to make sure he got home safely."_

 _Zeke walked up to Carla and gave her a hug, he walked up to Eren next, "Hey buddy, did you keep mom safe?" Eren only nodded in response. The scenes on the news had not improved the death tally now stood at 28 with some 200 people critically injured. Armin could see the anger burning in his best friend's eyes, it was far more intense than what it was whenever he came to Armin's rescue from the bullies, this was a look of pure hatred._

 _Grisha staggered in through the door at 5.30 a.m the next day and practically fell into the arms of his wife, who had stayed awake all night for him on the couch. "That was the worst night of my life", he removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes and cleaned his specs with his pocket handkerchief, "Hannes is in very bad shape too, he took a cinder block to the head during the riot."_

 _Eren, who hadn't gotten any sleep, eavesdropped on the conversation downstairs, he felt guilty for chastising the man who was now in hospital. He went back to his room, finding both Armin and Mikasa awake. "What's wrong", she asked him._

" _Officer Hannes got hurt, he's in the hospital now."_

" _Did you hear how serious it was?", Armin asked him eyes wide._

" _I don't know", he swallowed down his anger as best he could but it was no use, "I'm going to make them pay."_

Present day:

Eren sat with Armin in the locker room of the Scouts' stadium, he had been waiting for this day for more than eight years and now that it was here, he didn't exactly know how to feel. "Hey, you okay?", he looked up to see Reiner opposite him.

"I don't know, all I want is for this game to start."

"Well, kick-off is still thirty minutes away, plenty of time to gather your nerves."

"What's up Jaeger, you've been far more intense than usual this week?", Jean asked him.

"Nothing", he huffed, Jean grabbed him "No, tell me what's up."

"Leave me alone horsey."

"Oh so that's how it's gonna be, huh, what's the matter, not getting laid?", Eren punched him. The two of them wrestled each other to the ground, before Reiner and Thomas pulled them off of each other.

Levi rushed in just as they were about to resume their scuffle got out of hand,effortlessly holding both of them apart, "Could you two brats keep your hands to yourselves, I wouldn't condone this sort of behaviour from my two year old daughter let alone two college football players." The both of them calmed down and retook their seats.

Armin took in a deep breath "Eren", the brunet turned to him "You need to focus on the game itself and not the opponent, getting emotional won't help."

"Armin, you remember what they did to our hometown, how they hurt Mr. Hannes and smashed up your grandpa's store."

"I do, but focusing on it serves no purpose, it's just another game."

"He's right", said Marco who sat down next to him "Our objective is to make it to 3-0, that's all that matters."

"Eren", Armin's voice was barely above a whisper, "Promise me you will keep a level head today, please?"

Eren inhaled deeply, "I'll try but I can't promise anything Armin."

The Scouts had lost the toss and would receive the kick-off in the first half, Eren and Connie were both back towards their own end-zone waiting for the ball. It was kicked towards Connie's side, and Eren got ready to provide support blocking. Connie was ducking and weaving, his criminally underrated shiftiness with the ball in hand were truly coming to the fore and he had a chance to make something out of this, but the running lanes were closing fast.

It was at this point that Eren chose his moment to make his block , he made sure that the defender was faced towards him to avoid being penalised. As the Titans player zoned in on Connie, Eren, with all of his muscular frame, flew into him shoulder first, sending his opposite number clattering to the turf. Connie suddenly realized he had acres of space and with one juke he beat the final defender and sprinted the remaining forty odd yards to the end zone. The Scouts could not have asked for a better start.

" **Springer fields the kick at the two, and he's got pace and he finds a hole, and he's off, Galliard of the Titans is zoning in but he's taken out AND SPRINGER'S AWAY! He has one man to beat, jukes him, CONNIE SPRINGER IS OFF TO THE RACES! A ninety-eight yard return for a touchdown."**

 _Guren no Yumiya_ , coupled with celebratory fireworks rang out through the stadium. Connie was welcomed with a congratulatory pat from Mike on the back as he made his way over to the sideline. "Kudos on the block Eren, you cleaned him right out of it."

Eren gave a mock dismissive wave, "I didn't have to do too much, you would've done the same."

The Titans had made a decent return on the kick-off and were now on their own 37 yard line. Schneider, the quarterback, was lined up directly under centre.

Reiner was ready to pounce, his eyes burning with intensity, he clearly had a bone to pick with the university of his hometown. The ball was snapped and once again, the towering blond made short work of his blocker, he was closing in on Schneider when, the shorter man ducked under him sending Reiner face first into the dirt.

Schneider found room to step up in the pocket and heaved the ball down the near sideline. Jean had his target covered up and reacted to his man turning his head to look for the ball. Jean did the same and jumped. The ball flew over his head and into the open arms of the Titans receiver who raced to the end-zone giving Jean a taunting wave on his way. Jean looked up from his position on the ground and pounded the field in frustration.

Shadis chewed him out of it on the sideline, "THE HELL WAS THAT KIRSCHTEIN, YOU NEVER JUMP UNLESS YOU SEE THE GODDAMN BALL!"

Jean slumped onto the bench, his head in his hands, "You fucking idiot."

Reiner sat next to him "Don't beat yourself up over it, I had the QB nailed, and I let him escape, plus the receiver tricked you by turning his head early."

"I should've recognized that, it was all over the game tape, I was too focused on making a pick, Shadis was right to bite my head off."

It was now the offense's time to suit up, Gunter called a huddle, they were going with their standard opening drive; run on first down, pass on second. Eren lined up beside Gunter in the shotgun, they were going to run a read option. Gunter recognized that the Titans defense were looking to blitz, "Safety", he said to Eren, the signal that he would hand the ball off to him. The ball was snapped and Gunter quickly handed the ball to Eren who darted through the initial gap for a six yard gain. "That's it Eren", Reiner shouted from the sideline applauding in approval.

The next play would be a passing play, based on the situation it would either be a bubble screen to Eren, or Oluo and Eld running slants with Bertholdt running a curl route. Gunter decided to capitalise on the aggressiveness of the Titans' pass rush. "Red thirty, red thirty, set 2, HIKE!" Gunter dropped back in the pocket after the ball was snapped as the offense ran the bubble screen.

Just as he was about to throw, Gunter felt his left leg collapse beneath him as a Titans player tackled his legs from behind. His boot became stuck in the turf while his leg was forced down by all 260 pounds of the Titans' pass-rusher, he then heard a sickening snap and he howled in pain. The referees quickly blew the play dead and signaled for medical assistance. Petra, the team physio, and Hanji,the team doctor rushed on. Gunter was writhing in agony.

Petra fought the urge to vomit, Gunter's lower leg was twisted in a horrible position, definitely broken. His season was finished. Some of his teammates came over, clearly concerned for the health of their quarterback and friend. "Get back, ALL OF YOU!", screamed Dr. Zoe, the urgency clearly heard in her voice. Several other medical personnel had arrived with a stretcher, the stadium was eerily silent as Gunter was carted off the field with a towel draped over his head to hide his tears of pain.

It looked like Marco, would suit up as starter for the team, far sooner than he had expected. There was a negative atmosphere in the stadium now that one of their star players had gone down with a serious injury. He was known for lifting people's spirits with his outgoing personality, but it was asking too much of him to rally his teammates, he knew that especially. They were now at third down and nine yards to go.

He called the play in the huddle "Dodger 2-6 Blue", a passing play that would employ two tight-ends running comeback routes on the inside, with two receivers running curl routes on the outside. Marco went with a quick snap, while Eren stayed behind as an extra pass blocker. Marco fired a bullet towards Thomas, who had beaten his man, but somehow he couldn't secure the ball and he tipped it up right into the defender's hands. Bertholdt brought the defender down before he could make a decent return while Marco flung his straps from his helmet in frustration as he trudged over to the sideline.

It didn't get any better for the Scouts after that, the Titans easily marched down to the end-zone, quickly taking the lead at 14 points to 7. The dominant pass-rush of the past two weeks was non-existent, summed up by Reiner being pancaked twice during the drive.

Eren was now seething in anger, he had waited so long to get at the Titans and now here they were again, dominating proceedings as they stuffed the home team, with their drunken, obnoxious fans, cheering as if the match was already over.

The Scouts had the ball again, despite being behind they would run the ball again on first down. Marco handed him the ball and he went on another determined run, but he then felt pressure against his arm which carried the football. A defender had gotten his arm inside and with a strong thrust, he ripped the ball loose from his possession. The player, who Eren had cleaned out with his block on the earlier kick-off return, scooped up the ball and scampered all the way to the end-zone, the scoreline suddenly read 20 - 7 to the Titans. What went wrong?

There were a few scattered boos from the home crowd as the teams headed for the locker rooms at half-time. Jean had his head bowed, he didn't blame them, their team was down 24 points to 7 against the defending National Champions.

Shadis knew that screaming wasn't going to help their cause, so he gave his instructions to the defense in a more reserved tone than usual. They were essentially going to scrap the game-plan they had adopted the past few weeks and dig deeper into the playbook instead.

Levi, rather unsurprisingly, was also pitching new tactics in a reserved tone. "Anyone wanna pitch in", he turned to his left "Jaeger, how about you?" He had his head in his hands, he felt completely responsible for the fumble recovery, he had gotten so wrapped up in his emotions he had forgotten one of the most basic principles of running with the football; ball security.

Marco raised his hand to which Levi nodded, "Coach, it goes without saying that we can't get back into this game by running the football, the Titans know this just as much as we do."

"Fair point."

"So, what if we exploited that?"

"What do you mean freckles?"

"I say, use more draw plays, stop running it up the middle, and call more plays from the shotgun, it will give our linemen some reprieve."

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, "You make a valid point, but our linemen need to step up to make that work", he turned to Mac Griffin, the team's centre "Can you get your collective shit together?"

"We'll certainly try coa-", Levi grabbed him by the collar of his jersey, "Spare me the bullcrap about effort, _will_ you do it?", his face retained its stoic expression.

"Yes sir."

 _15 Minutes Later:_

The Scouts lined up for the kick-off of the second half, it was a decent boot from Marlowe, but the Titans still opted to return it. The returner found some wiggle room, ducking and weaving through the Scouts' coverage. Connie flew at his knees but timed his move poorly and the returner juked his way around him, he now had a clean getaway with only Marlowe to beat. A brave effort from the punter in bringing down the returner spared Connie's blushes.

Reiner and the Scouts defense marched onto the field with the ball placed at their own 34 yard line. They would need a big play on this drive because the Titans were well within field goal range. Neal Shorne called them into a huddle, "Right, we've gotta snap outta this, we're making too many basic mistakes, that's why we're this far behind, one big play and the crowd will get behind us. Remember where we are boys, this is _our_ house", he placed a closed fist in the middle of the huddle, "Right 'D' on three, one, two, three…"

"D!" they collectively shouted,

Reiner was pissed off. No he was hellbent on getting back on the blocker who pancaked him. He snarled like a wolf that had cornered its prey as he eyed up his target; number 76, who simply stared back at him with a thousand yard stare. His eyes remained fixed on the Schneider "You're going down you fucking beanpole", he growled under his breath.

As soon as the ball was snapped he lowered his body position as he swerved around number 76, smacking his arm away. He once again had a clear shot at Schneider, but he had learned his lesson from last time. He watched the quarterback shimmy to his right to avoid Reiner, looking for space to get around him. In doing so he had allowed Millius time to get off of his blocker, the nickel corner was barrelling down on him now too. Both defenders chased Schneider down making sure to drag him back a few extra yards before dragging him down for an 11 yard loss on the play.

Reiner had his arms out while wiggling his hips in celebratory dance, while Millius waved his arms up, signalling the crowd to get lowder, to which they responded. Both of them high-fived each other as they rejoined the defensive huddle. "That's what I'm talking about boys, we've gotta keep momentum away from them as best we can", the positivity in the defensive captain's voice was more than a little infectious, they knew what they had to do next; get the Titans offense off the field as quickly as possible.

The Titans offense floundered during the remainder of the drive, Neal stuffed their running back for no gain on the next play, while a deep pass near the sideline fell short and was nearly picked off. That being said the field position still benefitted the Titans since they could pin the Scouts deep into their own territory with a shortened field to punt.

The Titans punter delivered a high ball with plenty of hang time, there was no way Connie would be able to field it without being clobbered. Waving for the fair catch, the ball fell behind him, bounced once and rolled slowly before finally stopping at the Scouts own 2 yard line. Connie stood, dumbfounded and wondered what they had done to have the universe go against them like this.


	15. Crushing Blow

As the offense jogged onto the field, Bertholdt's mind weighed heavily on the play where Gunter got hurt. It was his assignment to block the player who brought down Gunter, and now their quarterback was, more than likely, gone for the season, all because he couldn't do the task required of him. He thought back to the conversation he overheard between Levi and Erwin at practise two weeks ago, " _He's got plenty of natural talent_ ", Levi had said " _But he's too mild-mannered, I'm not quite sure if he has the meanness to be a capable blocker_." He shook the thought from his head as he took up position in the slot.

Marco, the guy who had always been the source of positive vibes in the team, who comforted his teammates when they slipped up, was doing all he could not to lose hope. That was the first thing he had told his teammates in the huddle; not to lose faith, that they still had another two quarters, "I believe in all of you", he had told them before they broke huddle. This wasn't going to be easy, backed up against their own end-zone, in the shadow of the goalposts, and against a defense that smelled blood in the water, they'd need something special because the tactic he had suggested would be awfully risky with their current field position.

Marco called for the snap, and fired a quick dart to Eld for a 6 yard gain, their task had now gotten exponentially easier. No longer under pressure from the lack of field position to work with, Marco knew they could now put their revised game-plan into action.

Calling the play from the shotgun, Marco called for the snap. He scanned around for a target; Bertholdt was in double coverage, Olou was pushed off of his route by a defender, and Thomas was in a tight window. He was tempted to fire at Eld again but he could see that the inside linebacker was watching his eyes and ready to jump the route. Out of options and beginning to feel the pocket collapse around him, he did the only thing he could; run to his left side.

No one was open, he kept his legs moving and saw some space, tucking the ball under his arm he ran towards the first down line. Thomas saw what he was doing and shoved the cornerback covering him to the ground. Marco now had even more room to work with, he had passed the first-down marker and kept going. Eren had followed him and cleared a path in front of him by taking out the defender barrelling towards him. Marco didn't realise how far he had ran until he slid down to avoid being hit. He had just made a forty-six yard scramble.

He then heard Levi in his headpiece, "Stupid, risky, but it payed off, nice legs Bodt." The run had definitely galvanised the home crowd who were cheering frantically. The Titans defense looked a little shaken up, they hadn't counted on dealing with another mobile QB and this one had a completely different running-style to Schultz, the one they had studied for.

Marco was once again in the shotgun, with Eren to his right side. They were going to run a draw on the next play and Eren was determined to make this drive count. He had only managed twelve carries for thirty-nine yards and a fumble so far, now was his chance to reap his vendetta against the Titans. As Marco handed the ball to him, everything seemed to go in slow motion, he made his way up the middle, a small juke and he was through a hole, he saw a bloodthirsty defender coming at him low and Eren jumped, without realising it he had hurdled him. He had momentum on his side as he kept going and when another defender came at him, he suddenly remembered the techniques Annie had been teaching him. Grabbing the would be tackler by the collar of his jersey, he lowered his body position, leaned forward and swept his leg out from under him, he gained another five yards before eventually being brought down after a run of seventeen yards.

He could hardly contain his emotion and roared in a Titans player's face, before Olou dragged him away "Watch it you jackass, you wanna get a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct?" Eren sighed, "Right, sorry", he raised his hands apologetically. He surveyed the scene around him, the whole stadium was rocking and the decibel levels from the crowd was deafening.

Marco once again lined up in the shotgun, he gently waved his arms up and down signalling for the crowd to quiet down. Once again taking a quick snap, he knew where his target was immediately; Thomas was being covered by a linebacker, a serious mismatch given Thomas' speed. Still though he knew he was taking a risk if he chose to pass to Thomas, he had been responsible for the interception in the first half. He shook the thought from his head and threw the rock.

Thomas was aware of the situation, if he timed his stride with the ball, he could leave his marker for dead. He leaned out with his arms raised in front of him catching the ball right in stride and sprinted past another defender, juking the safety and into the end-zone. He barely had anytime to process that he had scored when Eren tackled him from behind, "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT SIDEBURNS!" Thomas just shook his head "We still got work to do."

The offense was about to head over to the sideline when Erwin signalled to the officials; two fingers raised on his hand; they were going to try for the two point conversion. Many players scratched their heads, it made very little sense to go for two, choosing to take the one or two made very little difference considering they would still need to score twice to retake the lead. Nevertheless, they lined up once again. Marco gave the defense very little time to reset and handed the ball off to Eren who barged through to break the plain for two points.

"That was risky, eyebrows, what was the point?", Levi scowled at him, Erwin didn't look up from his coaching-pad, "We won't win if we don't take risks, Levi."

"Tch", he resumed his position at the offense's bench, "Okay look like there's some life in you after all, don't let it get to your heads, we're still down two possessions."

The Scouts kick-return coverage team had managed to avoid giving up a big return this time, the Titans were inside their own twenty yard line. Schneider seemed indifferent to the recent momentum swing in favour the Scouts' favour. He hiked the ball and threw a screen pass to the Titans running-back. He had managed to find a decent hole to run through until Franz Kafka, one of the Scouts' linebackers hit him from his blindside. The ball was jarred loose right in front of Nac who scooped the ball up, there was no one in front of him and he seized the opportunity to scamper into the end-zone. In just a little under 7 minutes of the third quarter the Scouts had reduced the seventeen point deficit to three points with an extra point try still to come.

"I don't believe it", Armin's eyes were wide, "The likelihood of us winning this game at half-time was eighty to one."

Connie sniggered, "How in the world did you calculate that?", he looked at the scoreboard "We're still behind too."

Armin grabbed his helmet and began to make his way onto the field for the extra point "Not for much longer, hopefully."

Armin, once again had little difficulty converting the extra point, his lack of self-confidence almost creeped up on him again when Erwin chose to go for two points, but that quickly dissipated when Mike reminded him of the strategic value of the decision and its independence from Armin's capabilities as a kicker. Plus he hadn't missed so far this season, what reason could he have had for doubting himself?

The remainder of the quarter was a real defensive battle as each team's offense floundered and ended up punting. The Scouts' revised game-plan had become stale not to mention unnecessary now that they were back in the contest.

The Titans still had possession of the football to start the final quarter, their earlier confidence had clearly dissipated but Reiner was uncertain about the look in Schneider's eyes, he may have been sacked five times, by Reiner on two occasions alone, but he still retained his calm confidence.

Schneider fielded the snap, he was well aware of the pressure coming from Reiner and moved to his right, he pump faked causing many defenders, including Reiner, to jump in order to bat down a ball that never came. He chose that moment to throw it, finding a receiver in the open field, he was being covered by Millius, who ended up slipping as the receiver caught the ball. The coverage the Scouts had chosen for this play meant, Connie was the last line of defense, he had the pace to chase the receiver down but as he did he was violently shoved to the turf and the receiver made his way into the end-zone.

His mind was foggy as he heard his name echoing back to him from some unknown voice, " _Connie, Connie, you there, look at me_." He snapped out of it to see Reiner, Petra, and Hanji standing over him. Hanji raised her hand to him "Connie how many fingers am I holding up?"

Connie shook his head until his vision became clear "Three?"

"Okay", she lowered her hand, "Where are we?"

"Eh, Krolva?"

Hanji took out a small flashlight and shined it into both of his eyes, "You're concussed, you need to exit the game."

"But we can still win-"

"Dammit Connie, do as she says", barked Reiner.

Connie bowed his head in defeat and walked off the field with Petra and Hanji.

Armin was thankful to see his roommate on his feet and walking, it was a nasty block that had taken Connie out. He gave him a thumbs up as he caught his eye, which he returned on his way to the locker room. The Titans may have scored again but there was still plenty of time left in the quarter for the Scouts to complete their unlikely comeback.

Despite conceding again, the Scouts offense's confidence was not dampened, they knew they just had to continue what they had since the start of the second-half, They knew they could use their original tactics to a certain extent, but running the football would have to be done sporadically to ensure the clock didn't keep ticking.

At the end of the third quarter, Marco had discussed with Levi what he had seen from the Titans defense. They definitely had a load of mismatches against some of the purer athletes on the Scouts offense, such as Eren, Thomas and Eld. They would have to figure out a way to exploit them.

Eren had lined up in the slot while Marco stood in the shotgun with an empty backfield. Fielding the snap, the Scouts ran a screen and Marco fired the ball towards Eren behind the line of scrimmage. The excellent blocking from both the offensive line and the other receivers gave Eren plenty of room to make a 12 yard gain.

They went no huddle and quickly snapped the ball again, Marco chose to pass to Thomas across the middle. Getting another first down, the Scouts were quickly making their way down the field.

Another quick snap and Marco saw his target, Berholdt's sheer size had knocked his man over when he ran the route, he threw it behind the towering tight-end's shoulder, who hauled in the catch. There was nothing but green in front of him, but he knew he didn't have the pace to sprint to the end-zone. He sprinted like he never had before, managing to run out of bounds to stop the clock after a 38 yard gain.

The Scouts were now inside the Titans' 20 yard line, they had to make use of this opportunity, but they couldn't force this either, a field goal could work too but they needed to score, period. Marco lined up directly behind the centre, after calling for the snap he tossed the ball to Eren on the outside. Every fibre of Eren's being yearned to barge through the Titans' defenders but he knew better; he ran out of bounds after an 8 yard gain.

The Scouts were now in a bit of a dilemma, sure they were closer to the end-zone, but the field was now considerably shorter, effectively cutting the number of plays they could run in half. It was now much easier to try a field goal, but with 9:37 left on the clock, with all three of their timeouts left, the option seemed too safe.

Marco took the snap from the shotgun, he scanned the field in front of him; the Titans' were clearly expecting a pass, every receiver was facing man-coverage (each individually marked by a defender). He couldn't see any mismatches to exploit, he then heard Levi through his headpiece; "Don't force it Bodt, if the play's there, then take it, throw a pick and we're as good as finished", not a hint of urgency in his voice, just his same casual and disinterested tone.

The ball was snapped and Marco quickly looked to his right and then his left, the coverage was too tight. He had to make a major decision in a matter of seconds; throw the ball away, take a chance and throw it to a target, who was tightly covered, scramble for a short gain, or, arguably the worst choice, take a sack. He trusted his instincts and fired behind Oluo who turned his back to the defender and wrapped his arms tightly around the ball, a four yard gain.

"Take the field goal", Erwin's tone was decisive in Marco's headset. Marco was puzzled, sure the clock was still running, but there was no need to play it safe just yet, by going for 3 points instead of a possible 7 meant they would have to go for a touchdown once they got the ball back, it didn't make sense. "Do as he says", there was a hint of seriousness to Levi's voice. Marco lined up behind centre "I need to snap the ball, the play clock is almost over as is, I'm going to gain a few security yards", he told Mac. After the ball was snapped Marco surged forward for some 2 yards. Erwin signalled to the officials that he was calling the field-goal unit out and Marco trudged over to the sideline, doing his best to hide his disagreement with the coach's decision.

Armin made the field goal with little effort, the Scouts had reduced the deficit to 6 points, the defense now had to do its job and get the ball back as quickly as possible with less than 8 minutes left on the clock. It was evident what the Titans were doing from the very first play of their drive; running out the clock. Their offensive line, relishing the chance to inflict some punishment of their own on the Scouts' defensive line, played with a real meanness.

Reiner pounded his fist against the ground after he got flattened by two blockers after their latest play, he wasn't sure whether it was his glove or his emotions that kept the pain at bay. He knew what the situation was, the Titans had managed to get the clock down to 4:02, which was still running and were only a few yards away from field goal range. Once that happened, their goose was cooked. If there was ever a time in this game that they needed a play, this was it.

Schneider let the play clock run down all the way, before finally calling the snap at 3:37. Once again they managed to make some yards on this play, but not enough to get into field-goal range. They snapped the ball again at 3:09, but no gain this time as Neal wrapped up the ball-carrier behind the line of scrimmage for a 5 yard loss. It was now 3rd down and long, the Scouts had something but the clock was still running and now under 3 minutes.

Naturally, the Titans took their time before resetting for the snap, there was no need for them to rush anything given their lead and field position. If they failed to convert on third down they could simply run the clock down before punting the ball which would pin the Scouts deep into their own territory, who needed a touchdown to level the game.

Schneider repeated what he had done the entire drive; hand the ball off to the running-back. It look like for a brief second that he may have found room to maneuver and gain some yards. That was until he came into Jean's path.

Jean's breath caught in his throat, the ball carrier was right in front of him, if he timed his hit right he might just jar the ball loose. He pushed out the memory of the touchdown he gave up earlier from his head and charged at the Titans' running-back. He aimed the crown of his helmet right at his opposite number's forearm, whilst simultaneously wrapping his arms around his waist to bring him down.

He turned his head to see that his plan had worked, the football was now gently rolling on the turf just a yard away. He saw the Titans player heading towards it, Jean wouldn't be able to get there on time the game was over for them- he suddenly saw the bulky frame of Reiner dive on top of the football. The Scouts had the ball back. He was suddenly hoisted into the air by Neal, "That's it Jean, that's exactly what we needed", he shouted in his face. Jean looked around to see that the whole stadium was rocking, they weren't dead yet.

The Scouts would have to drive 64 yards to level the game up, with all three timeouts and the two minute warning, they had all the help they would need. Still though, they were unsure how they should play this; get to the end-zone as quickly as possible and give the the Titans a chance to retake the lead, or play it slow and let the clock wind down before scoring. This was without mentioning that scoring was no guarantee.

Marco had to be careful on this drive, he couldn't force the issue, the Titans would be well aware that the kitchen-sink would be thrown at them on this drive. It was likely they would allow the Scouts to make a few short gains before bringing pressure. Levi's voice came into his headpiece again, "Remember, stick to the strategy, they can't go one on one with the likes of Thomas, Eren and Eld, so exploit that." Marco gave a thumbs up to the offensive coordinator on the sideline.

They decided to make use of Oluo's speed for the first play, they would run a reverse; hand it off to Eren initially who would run in one direction and then he would hand it off to Oluo who would run in the opposite direction. Marco, once again in the shotgun, called for the snap, handing it off to Eren. The Titans took the bait and Eren chose his moment to hand the ball to Oluo. The veteran made his away into acres of space speeding all the way for a 24 yard gain.

The two minute warning sounded. It was now do or die for the Scouts if they wanted to win this game. Marco could see that the reverse had had the desired effect on the Titans' defense, it threw them off balance. This gave the Scouts' considerably more offensive options than when the drive started.

He went over the strategy again with Levi while Petra handed him an isotonic drink. "Alright, we have them confused, but there's no point in using smoke and mirrors any further, we'll only confuse ourselves then, just stick to the plays we normally use in this field position." Marco nodded giving Levi his usual confident smile. He picked up his helmet and jogged back onto the field.

Marco opted to hand the ball off to Eren for the next play, who gained 7 yards. They had now advanced almost half the distance to their goal. They ran play-action the next play, the Scouts' consistency in the run game had benefited them to the extent that several defenders tackled Eren, thinking he had the ball. Marco heaved it to Eld down the sideline, who was pushed out of bounds upon making the catch. They had driven all the way to the 10 yard line in just three plays without using a single time-out.

The Titans still had all three of their timeouts though, if the Scouts drove all the way to the end-zone, would they let them score so they could get the ball back quickly, since they would only need to get into field goal range to win the game? Marco shook the thought from his head, he was overthinking things, by the type of defense that was on the field, this was clearly a team hellbent on stopping the Scouts from scoring a touchdown.

Marco once again, faked the hand-off to Eren, only the Titans didn't buy it this time. Their defensive end was so close Marco swore he could hear him snarl, even over the deafening noise of the stadium. Marco tucked the ball under his arm and ran to his left, he was never going to get a window to throw it, and he ran out of bounds after a 6 yard gain.

Marco took the next play from the shotgun, going under centre wasn't an option given the shorter field. He called for the snap, seeing he had a couple of options, Bertholdt had not let him down all game, plus his marker was clearly overmatched by his size. Marco lobbed it to Bertholdt.

Bertholdt saw it, he stopped running his route by planting his right foot and turned around to leap up for it. Everyone, players, coaches, fans, on both sides, even Mina and the rest of the cheerleaders, held their collective breaths. Bertholdt was the only one who could possibly reach the ball, there was no way he couldn't haul it in, or so it seemed.

As Bertholdt brought his hands together to catch it, the ball sailed through them, hitting his helmet. The ball seemed to be falling in slow motion as Bertholdt watched it descend into the hands of the Marley safety who was covering him on the play. The ball had been intercepted. The defender took a knee in the end-zone for the touchback. The Scouts had lost.

The next couple of minutes could not have been more degrading for the Scouts. The Titans after picking up a couple of first downs, took a knee on three straight plays, forcing the Scouts to exhaust all of their timeouts. The punter waited until the clock ticked down to 30 seconds before hoofing it high into the air taking another couple of seconds off the clock. Jean, who had swapped in for the concussed Connie waved fair catch, but the ball fell behind him, rolling slowly towards the end-zone before the Titans' player touched it at the 1 yard line, with some 10 seconds left on the clock. Marco attempted one last Hail Mary pass that fell flat before they all, dejectedly, went back into the locker-room.

Everyone was despondent in the locker-room afterwards, Jean sat at his locker and had his head in his hands. Armin sat next to him, his head bowed. Reiner had an arm around Bertholdt, reassuring his longtime friend's already fragile self-esteem, while Marco and Thomas each had one hand covering their own mouths, occasionally rubbing their upper lips. The only exception was Eren, whose emerald-coloured eyes had not lost their intensity since before the game started.

Levi conversed with Hanji, "Give it to me straight four-eyes, how bad is it."

"Well it's a broken leg Levi, so I figure you can guess what the implications are, yourself."

Levi sighed heavily and then looked down at Gunther, who fought back tears as Eld rubbed his shoulder, doing his best to comfort him.

Eren overheard them, and he kicked over a bin containing the team's footballs, "GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!", everyone in the room, Levi and Erwin included jumped. "Eight years, eight long years I've waited for this and nothing's changed." He narrowed his eyes as he looked over at Bertholdt and pointed at him, "And you, we're down our starting quarterback because of you, we lost the game because of you, maybe if you didn't sweat so damn much you would've held onto the football you oversized FREAK!"

Tears started to stream down Bertholdt's face, he may have had nearly eight inches on Eren, but conflict was not his strong suit. Reiner had not failed to notice. "Hey", he stood up, "You watch your mouth kid, we win and lose together as a team, it's not Bertholdt's fault, are you going to blame him for your fumble too?"

"Oh go to hell, you may be hard on the outside but underneath; you're soft", he pushed the taller one not too gently.

"What did you say?"

"You. Reiner Braun. Are Soft." Reiner pushed him back "Soft, huh?", he blew air through his nose in a way that would make Mike proud, "And what does that make you, always driven by your emotions, why did today matter in particular, we lost, it sucks, but it's still early in the season?"

Levi stepped in, "Are you going to start a fight with everyone today, brat?" Eren turned his head away, "Oi, look at me when I'm talking to you, Jaeger", he grabbed Eren by his cheeks and dragged him down to eye level. "You think you're the only one upset that we lost, hm?", he narrowed his eyes, "Trust me kid, you have no idea what it's like, Coach Erwin has lost to the the Titans 4 years in succession in the Championship game, you think you're the only one who's watched a teammate suffer a serious injury, I've seen promising careers ended right in front of me, one former teammate of mine can never walk again", he released him, "Tch, excuse me if I care very little about your petty vengeance against the University of Marley Titans."

Eren fought back tears, looked back at Reiner whose current facial expression reminded him of Annie's when she was pissed off, other teammates, Armin included couldn't look him in the eye, even the ever-positive Marco looked far from impressed. He removed his gear and stormed out of the locker-room. "I expect to see you at practise on Tuesday night, you can look forward to twenty laps around the practise field", Levi's tone was, once again, casual, but inside he swallowed down his outrage and disgust at the rookie running-back _He still doesn't get it, talented or not._


	16. Reminiscence

**(A/N: Wow okay, Happy New Year everybody! Anyway this chapter will explore the Eren/Mikasa relationship just to add depth to their side of this story. Fear not Aruani fans, that is still the main arc but I also want to further develop other ships in this story before it's completed. Again reviews are always welcome and appreciated)**

She had always been an early riser, for as long as she could remember anyway, waking up in the embrace of the person who was both her boyfriend and childhood best friend made it all the more worthwhile. If anything the chance to see Eren at peace was what she looked forward to every morning when she opened her eyes. She admired his driven attitude but there were times when she wished he had better control over his emotions. She had heard from Armin about their friend's outburst following their bitter loss against the Titans two days ago and how he had not returned to his own dorm since then, given that tensions had not yet cooled down between him and his roommates.

She snuggled up closer to his chiseled physique, appreciating the protection of his strong arms, not that she needed it of course. Throughout their adolescence she had been the one to come to his rescue whenever he stood up to Armin's bullies. She winced slightly at the memories of their childhood friend being mercilessly targeted by bullies throughout elementary, junior-high and high-school, his academic brilliance coupled with his social awkwardness and his small frame made him too irresistible for bullies to ignore.

It was why she was so initially hesitant about him and Annie becoming friends and more, she feared that the girl would chew him up and spit him out. The fact that Annie made her friend happy kept her at bay, but she was still wary about the girl's intentions no matter what difficulties she had faced according to Reiner and Bertholdt. She would have to either put up or shut since they were both teammates on the kickboxing team and her friend's happiness mattered much more than her distrust of Annie Leonhardt.

She looked across at the clock on her bedside table, the time read 7.30 a.m, Eren didn't need to get up for class for another hour and a half and her first class wasn't until 12. She could appreciate having a lazy morning for a little longer and went back to resting her eyes as she reminisced how her and Eren Jaeger came to be.

 _10 Years Ago:_

Mikasa didn't understand why her father's new job had to drag them all the way across the country to Shiganshina. Sure the weather was nicer but she felt so out of place being one of the few Asiatic faces in this part of Eldia.

Shiganshina, despite its founding by the Japanese when the island was initially colonized had been taken over by the Germans in the late 1870's like much of the northern part of the pacific nation, hence the many Teutonic style names of the neighbourhoods and stores. During World War Two the citizens on the east side of the country rose up against the occupying German forces while the western side supported the Germans. The United States aided in defeating the Nazi forces and had helped rebuild the country. Now, a mixture of both German and American-style English could be heard when walking through the streets in many of Eldia's cities but there were a few regions that still only spoke either German or Japanese.

Her mother had opened up an antique shop, in the outskirts of the city while her father was an accountant with his own practise back in their original hometown of Azake, before he received a job offer too good to refuse from one of the most prestigious financial firms in the country. Unfortunately, Shiganshina was the financial hub of the country and as a result the Ackerman family had to move.

The family had decided to help set up the Antique shop that weekend, they had just finished, with her father, Samuel, cleaning the store windows, while Mikasa and her mother Arika were both sewing behind the store's counter. "Look mama, I finished", the nine year old said cheerfully holding up the embroidery, she had made a simple design of a blue and white bird on a branch. "Excellent work, Mikasa", the pride evident in her mother's voice, "This type of embroidery is an old family secret, my mother taught me and her mother taught her, when the day comes that you'll have children of your own you'll teach them as well."

The girl look confused, "Children of my own, where do babies come from, Mama?"

Her mother blushed bright red, "Oh, uh, sweetie", she called to her husband, "Where do babies come from?"

Samuel nearly tripped over the bucket of cleaning solution as soon as he heard that, "Em, well, you know Dr. Jaeger is arriving today, you should ask him about it-" he was interrupted when the door opened as three burly men made their entrance.

"Sorry, gentlemen, we're closed for today-", he began.

"Not to worry", the shortest and possible leader of the three, said before taking out a knife and stabbed Samuel in his lower abdomen, "I never cared much for antiques anyway." Samuel's hand fell to the spot where the knife had entered, blood beginning to seep through his shirt and sweater-vest before he crumpled to the ground.

Arika's eyes grew wide and brought her hand to her mouth in shock, she grabbed an old-fashioned letter opener and began pushing Mikasa towards the stockroom.

"Now, now", the leader said raising his arms in a gesture of mock peace, "Let's not make this any more awkward than it already is." The smirk on his face made Arika's stomach churn. She screamed and ran at the group, the letter opener raised, the leader, despite being shorter than her grabbed both of her arms and held her back, "Feisty one you are, might keep you for myself, should make things more interesting in the bedroom", he cackled. This only infuriated her more and she began to overpower him, the letter opener inching closer to his face. "Mikasa, run!", she screamed.

"Mama I'm scared", the girl cowered behind the counter.

"Don't you see I want you to be scared, get the police, get to safety, please, Mikasa you have to-",one of his accomplices walloped her with a fist to her left eye, knocking her out cold.

Grisha Jaeger, arrived at the store's side entrance where Mrs. Ackerman had told him she would meet him, his wedding anniversary with Carla was coming up and he had opted to have an old clock belonging to her deceased father restored as a gift for the occasion. "The Ackermans have a girl your age Eren, they're new here and it'd be best if you got to know her, try and be polite."

The boy huffed, "I will be as long as she is to me."

Grisha sighed in frustration and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, "Eren we've talked about this countless times, friendships require effort from both sides, expecting to see the worst in people and you'll find it. You need to socialize more, it's a wonder that Armin puts up with you at times, you're fortunate that he's patient but I'm pretty sure he'd appreciate it if you stopped getting into fights on his behalf."

Eren looked away in shame, "I'm sorry to be blunt Eren, but that's just how it is, who knows maybe you and Mikasa will hit it off, she's very sweet according to her parents anyway, if not for your sake, then for mine and your mother's, please?"

The boy took in a deep breath, "Okay."

Grisha noticed that the door was ajar, "That's odd", he mumbled to himself, "Mrs. Ackerman, Arika?" he scanned around until his eyes spotted the body on the floor near the store's front entrance. He rushed over and recognized that it was Samuel Ackerman, he was on his side slipping in and out of consciousness, hand clutched to his lower abdomen which was bleeding profusely. "Samuel, SAMUEL!, It's okay, it's me, Dr. Jaeger, you're going to be fine but I need you to stay with me, what happened?"

"Arika, Mikasa, they", he weakly managed to breathe out, "Taken, three men."

Grisha whipped out his phone and frantically rang for an ambulance, he noticed Eren was standing by the counter eyes wide as he witnessed the scene in front of him. "Eren, go back to the car and wait inside until I call for you, understand?, Say that back to me word for word, EREN!"

Mikasa's eyes opened in a daze, the room was damp and cold, the only light coming from a single window high above the ground they must be in an abandoned warehouse of sorts. Her hands and feet were tied, she noticed the form of her mother, who was also bound but had a gag over her mouth evidenced by her muffled sobs. "Shut up!", one of the thugs growled giving Arika a vicious kick to the side. "Dammit don't damage the merchandise", the leader snapped, "We should fetch a nice price for both of them, they're both Asian, not common in these parts, and young, even better."

"What about the husband?"

"Huh?, he won't be much trouble, worst case scenario, he'll live but he'll probably be in a coma for a few days, by then we'll be gone."

They heard a knock from a nearby door, both looked at each other in confusion, this warehouse was abandoned why would anyone approach to begin with let alone knock on the door. The thug who kicked Arika went to answer the door, hand clutched tightly on his baseball bat as he opened the door with the other hand, he was surprised to see a boy with brunette hair of about 9 years old behind it. "Sorry", he was fighting back tears, "I got lost and I can't find my parents, I don't know what to do", he sniffed. The thug lowered his bat, "Gee, sorry about that kid, I can direct you to the nearest telephone if that helps?"

"T-thank you sir, you're very kind." The thug stepped outside the door and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was a crowbar swinging at his temple and a look of pure hatred burning from the child's emerald-coloured eyes.

"What's taking that idiot so long", the leader stood up from the crate he was sitting on. He opened the door and was met with a crowbar to the face, blood gushing out from his, now broken, nose. Eren realised he had only stunned his target and took another swing this time at the man's knee with a sickening *CRACK*. Eren took out his other knee before wacking his ribs and finishing with a shot to the kidneys. The man was not getting up anytime soon.

Eren caught his breath, adrenaline coursing through his veins, he looked over and saw the mother and daughter on the ground both bound and gagged. He noticed a knife near the crate that the thug had been sitting on. He started cutting the girl's restraints, "Everything's going to be okay, my name's Eren, 's son, we came to your shop and your dad said you'd been taken, he's in hospital now."

Mikasa sat up and looked around, "Wait, there was a third one, where did he go?"

"A third one?", his question was answered when he was grabbed from behind, "You did this you little bastard", being suddenly seized had made Eren drop the knife and the thug had turned him around until they were face to face his hands wrapped tightly around the boy's throat. "I'm going to kill you."

Eren's face was turning blue as he felt himself begin to lose consciousness, he turned to Mikasa who was shivering in fear watching the scene unfold, "You have to fight", Eren gasped. "I-I can't", voice wavering as she turned around to look at her mother whose eyes were pleading with her. She saw the knife at her feet and picked it up, the shaking of her hands making it wobble in her grip. She had to do something otherwise her rescuer would die and the kidnappers would come to and take them away again. She screamed in determination as she ran towards the man and stabbed him first in his side and then behind his knee making sure she plunged it in deep.

He dropped Eren who picked up the crowbar again, the man was down on one knee his hand covering the stab wound on his side. Eren swung the crowbar at him knocking the would be kidnapper out cold. He wasted no time in freeing the girl's mother, who ran to her daughter and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

They soon heard the sound of police sirens outside before armed police, led by Hannes came in through all entrances of the building. Hannes' jaw dropped when he saw the scene; all three confirmed kidnappers were out cold, Arika was sobbing as she hugged Mikasa tightly. But what really shocked Hannes was seeing Eren Jaeger of all people there, the boy's father would be relieved but how would he react once he found out what the kid had done?

Ten minutes later, Grisha Jaeger had arrived, was down on one knee, his hands with a firm grip on his son's shoulders. "I told you to wait, why didn't you listen, how could you put your life in danger like that?"

"I had to do it dad, I had to, I couldn't just stay in the car and do nothing, those men weren't even human, they were less than animals." Initially shocked by his son's sudden harshness, Grisha resumed his stern tone, but with a noticeable softer touch to it this time, "Yes Eren, those men were vile, they've been wanted by the law for some time and what they planned to do to Mrs. Ackerman and Mikasa was evil, but it doesn't make your actions any less reckless", he cupped his son's chin to look into his eyes, "Promise me you'll never endanger your life like that again." Eren took in a deep inhale of breath, "I promise."

Grisha walked over to Hannes who was with Arika and Mikasa, "How are they doing?"

Hannes rubbed the back of his neck "Safe to say they've been better, Arika has barely spoken a word and hasn't left the girl's side." Grisha walked over to the mother and daughter, "Arika", she looked up at him, "Samuel's in rough shape, but he'll live, you can visit him in hospital now if you'd like, Mikasa can spend the night at mine." Arika looked down at Mikasa and kissed the top of her head, "It's going to be alright sweetie." Hannes came up to them "I can take them home Grisha, if you'd like to escort her to the hospital."

"Thank you Hannes."

Hannes had now brought Eren over to Mikasa, who was still shivering. Eren did the only thing he could do, he unwrapped his scarf before proceeding to wrap it around Mikasa. The girl jolted for a second before embracing its warmth. As Hannes drove them back to the Jaegers' house, he saw through the rearview mirror that the two kids had fallen asleep, heads resting against each other and holding each other's hand.

 _6 years later:_

High-School could be trying at the best of times, but being the target of bullies was another hell entirely. Armin had felt their presence as soon he had entered the school that morning, stalking him like a pack of wolves would a wounded deer.

He placed his books in his locker and prepared for the worst. Beefy hands grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. "Homework, coconut-head", Milo, the leader of the school bullies was not just big, he was IMMENSE, he was a year ahead of Armin, Mikasa and Eren stood several inches over 6 foot and must've weighed some 220 pounds. He was on the school wrestling team and would've had no trouble flipping small-fry like Armin Arlert around.

The boy nervously reached into his bag and took out the assignment that took him all night to finish. Armin may have been a certifiable genius and he had never hated geometry until last night. Milo had wanted him do the exercises for the next two weeks as well. He reckoned losing sleep was considerably less painful than losing teeth.

Milo snatched the pages from him, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the exercises. "Good work Arlert, but…", he grabbed him again and forced him up against the locker, "That history assignment only got me a 'b plus', so I've no other option." Armin's lip quivered, "B-but I had my own homework to do, I didn't get a moment's rest last weekend, it's a miracle I managed to put in that much of an effort." Milo's eyes flared dangerously, "Oh poor you", he raised a fist and was ready to punch him until someone held him back.

"Leave him alone", Eren growled, both of his hands wrapped around Milo's bent elbow, "Piss off Jaeger, this doesn't concern you", Milo said without even turning around. "Well since you're holding my friend against the lockers, I reckon it does."

"I'm warning you shortie."

"Why do you pick on Armin, you have a whole foot of height on him, why can't you pick on someone your own size?", Milo released his grip and Armin fell to the ground, "Hmm, how about you?"

Eren had expected this and swung his closed fist Milo's side hitting hard muscle, "That's cute kid", he grabbed Eren by his collar and punched him square in the face, "This is too easy", he laughed as he threw another couple of punches before he turned to Armin "I'm not done blondie, once I'm done with this asshat, you're next on the menu", he turned to Eren again, "And there's nothing either of you can do about it."

Milo soon found himself falling to the ground, his grip released on Eren, "What the fu-", a converse shoe met his jaw before an elbow flew at his nose, breaking it. He looked up and saw it was Mikasa Ackerman, Eren and Armin's best friend slash bodyguard. "Touch either of them again and you'll be eating your food through a straw, I guarantee it", she snarled at him with both of her fists raised in front of her face. Milo looked around, a small audience of twenty people had gathered in the hallway. He knew he didn't stand a chance against Mikasa, the girl was a bonafide psycho. Picking himself up, he slowly made his way to his first class, "And Armin's done doing your homework for you!", she shouted after him.

The crowd soon dispersed and she went over to both Armin and Eren. Neither were in particularly bad shape, Armin was a little shaken up but Eren had a black-eye forming. "Eren you need to go to the infirmary and get some ice on that, your mother will kill you if she finds out you got into _another_ fight." Eren shrugged her arms off him as he stood up, "You're not her surrogate when she's not around you know?"

"I promised her I would keep you out of trouble, I've never broken a promise and I don't intend to start now", her voice had its typical monotonous tone, "I'm sorry I didn't get here on time Armin", her friend seemed more interested in staring at the ground, "How long has this been going on for?"

Armin remained silent, looking away from her and rubbing his arm up and down, "Armin", she cupped his face in both of her hands, "Please, tell me", her voice decisive. Armin inhaled deeply and wiped the tears forming in his eyes, "It started in October", his voice low almost as if he were hiding something. "Are you telling me this has been going for four months and you haven't told us?", she shook her head, "Why?", she narrowed her eyes. "I-", he began, trying to maintain his composure, Mikasa and Eren beckoned him to continue, "I don't want to be a burden, I've been that to both of you since elementary."

Eren sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, Mikasa placed a reassuring hand on the blond's shoulder, "Armin", she looked him right in his ocean-blue eyes, "You're our best friend, you'll never be a burden, whenever you're in trouble or need help, we will always be there, that's what friends are for." Eren extended an arm to his friend of nearly 10 years, "No more secrets, promise?" Armin gripped the brunet's arm, "Promise."

Later that day the three teens were in the shop belonging to Armin's grandfather, finishing their homework. Mr. Arlert had owned the modest bookshop for almost five decades, there was a leisure area for customers to sit down in the store. The shop closed for business when they finished school and they were now seated on one of the leather couches as Armin's grandfather made coffee for them in the back of the store.

"Ugh, why does calculus hate me", Eren groaned, drumming his pen in frustration against his workbook. Armin grinned, "It doesn't hate you Eren, you need to learn the material, you wouldn't sit behind the wheel of a car without learning how to drive would you, math is the same."

"Says the genius", Armin rolled his eyes at his friend's response, he looked over at Mikasa who had finished her work and was reading one of the books belonging to the store. She looked distracted as she flipped through the pages. "I gotta take a leak, be right back", Eren headed to the employee restroom.

"Everything okay?", Armin asked her as soon as Eren was out of earshot. "Hmm?, sure why do you ask?"

"Your mind doesn't seem to be interested in whatever it is you're reading."

 _Damn his perceptiveness_ she mentally huffed to herself, _he really can read me like a book._

"Mikasa, remember what you told me earlier, we're best friends, if you're there for me, I'm there for you."

"Guess you're right", she placed the book down on a nearby table. "So", he raised his eyebrows at her, "What is it?"

"It's complicated."

"How so?"

"Really complicated."

"Right."

"Dammit Armin."

"You're stalling."

"I-", she began before a voice interrupted them, "Coffee, kids", Mr. Arlert came in carrying a tray of three mugs with milk, sugar and a few packets of biscuits. "If you need anything, just shout, enjoy", he went back to the store's office. Armin gestured for her to continue, as she was about to speak Eren came back into the room, "I'll tell you later." They resumed their study without saying a word.

Later that night, Mikasa was on her phone, speaking to Armin. "How long have you felt like this about him?", he asked, his tone was not prying rather it was asked in such a way that put her at ease, She knew she could be honest with him. "Ever since that...day."

"Oh", he needed no further elaboration, "Do you plan on telling him?"

"I don't know."

"Mikasa-"

"What if he doesn't feel the same way, what if we won't be friends after?"

"Do you really think you can remain friends if you still feel about him this way, what if he gets a girlfriend?"

"Don't say that."

"Well, he'll hardly remain single if you don't go for him."

"It's just, how do I tell him?"

"Just be yourself, be honest with him, he may not be the most perceptive of people but he'll eventually realize that something's up with you, and that might jeopardize your friendship."

"..."

"Mikasa?"

"I have to go to bed, Goodnight Armin."

"Wait, Mikas-", she hung up.

 _2 years later:_

The problem festered, her nervousness coupled with Armin's lack of assertiveness meant that they were no closer to Mikasa revealing to Eren how she truly felt about him. Their prom was just over a month away and neither Eren nor Mikasa had dates. Armin had secured one with Ruth Kline, but he couldn't go without his friends. He saw a perfect opportunity to finally get the two of them to realise how they felt about each other.

Eren had revealed to Armin his feelings about her over the previous summer but Armin had opted to remain quiet and instead tried to get both of them to be honest with each other. It was during the previous summer that Eren had revealed to him how he really felt about Mikasa, and just like her was far too hesitant and did not want to risk losing her as a friend if she didn't feel the same way.

Armin had had enough and he devised a plot to get Eren to ask Mikasa to prom. They both sneaked out of their respective houses at midnight, Mikasa usually went to bed early but her father tended to stay up a little later hence why they had to leave at this time.

Both boys had climbed the tree opposite the window of Mikasa's bedroom, a small leap and they would be able to reach the small perch outside of said window. Eren rapped lightly against the glass, Mikasa was a light sleeper so Eren was thankful he wouldn't have to make a louder noise and risk waking both of her parents up.

When there was no reply after about a minute, Eren turned to Armin, a frustrated look on his face and without looking banged his closed fist a little harder against the window. His hand hit something a little softer and warmer and he heard a voice go "OWW" before he realised his mistake. Mikasa had heard his original knock and she had opened the window just as he was about to knock, hitting her on her forehead.

"Eren, what are you doing here, and…?", she looked to his left, "Armin, what's going on?"

"Can I come in?", his voice kept as low as possible, Mikasa only nodded in response. Eren stepped inside her room. He remembered he had not stepped foot in her room since junior high, and it had not changed in the slightest. Her room was devoid of what one would find in an eighteen-year old girl's bedroom. There were no posters or anything that indicated who the room belonged to. There was her bed, its right side facing the window, her study desk opposite the bed, a large wardrobe on the opposite side of the bed, facing the window with a dresser next to it.

Eren noticed a picture frame on the bedside table, it was a picture of the three of them together at the beach during the previous summer, where he told Armin how he really felt about her. "So", her voice disrupting his train of thought, "Care to explain the meaning behind your midnight visit?" She sat on her bed with her arms crossed.

"Well, uh, first off, this was Armin's idea."

"Hey-", Eren cut him off with a wave of his hand, "I came over because...", he bowed his head, he couldn't even look her in the eye. "Eren, what is it?", there was a hint of worry in her voice. Eren had not noticed that his hands were bunched into fists and he gradually relaxed them. "I wanted to know if…", he turned to Armin, who gave an encouraging nod, "If you wanted to go to prom with me?" He muttered out the last few words.

Mikasa's eyes grew wide. _Was this really happening, I must be dreaming, I'll wake up in the next few minutes and none of this will have happened._ After opening and closing her eyes a few times she simply responded with a "What?"

"Go to prom with me?"

"I heard you the first time."

"And?"

Her breath became caught in her throat, she couldn't believe this was happening. She never thought that she would ever find herself in a situation like this with the one person she had ever had feelings for. _What if he's just asking me to prom. He might just be looking for a date, he's not asking me out or to be his girlfriend._ Judging by the look on both Armin and Eren's faces she had not given him an answer for quite some time. "Yes", she breathed out.

"YES!", Eren punched the air, and regretted it instantly once he heard the voice of Samuel Ackerman in the next room. "Quick, hide", she closed the window and pushed Armin into her wardrobe while Eren dived under her bed. Mikasa got back into bed as soon as her father opened the door. "Everything okay, sweetie?"

"Yes, sorry my phone's alarm went off."

"Not to worry, see you tomorrow, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Mikasa waited two minutes until she whispered, "The coast is clear."

Armin came out of the wardrobe rubbing his head, while Eren banged his head as he got out from under her bed. They both said goodbye to Mikasa as the two of them crept home.

One month later the three friends were gathered at the Ackerman's house getting ready for prom along with Armin's date, Ruth, and Thomas and Mina. Samuel Ackerman had set up his camera in the living room as he took a few photos of the six of them.

After the photos were taken Eren wiped away a bead of sweat forming at his temple when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder causing him to jump slightly. He turned around to see the hand belonged to Arika Ackerman. "So, when's the wedding?", she raised an eyebrow at him along with a smirk on her face. "Arika, don't embarrass them", Samuel called from the next room. Both Mikasa and Eren blushed.

A few hours later prom was in full swing, despite alcohol being restricted, it did not prevent people from sneaking in their own. Armin was beginning to regret giving Ruth a few cups of punch because it had clearly been spiked and she was now hanging off of him. He gave a pleading look to Eren who simply waved him away, "I think you've got the situation under control", laughing at his best friend's current predicament.

He turned his attention to the girl whose head was resting on his shoulder, "Hey, you okay?"

She turned her head to face him, "Sure, how about you?"

"I don't know, oh uh yeah I'm good, you just seem a little spaced out is all." The music suddenly changed to a slow jazzy dance tune. "Wanna dance?", he asked her. She managed to maintain her usual monotone but her face betrayed her excitement, "Lead the way."

Just about everyone was on the dancefloor now with their dates, Mina had her head rested against Thomas' chest as they gently swayed to the tune. Armin had somehow managed to get Ruth on her feet, being as short as he was, combined with her wearing of heels meant that her head rested on top of his. He was showing remarkable strength to keep the two of them standing.

Eren stifled a laugh watching the scene unfold, when he felt Mikasa tugging at his arm, "Let's go", the urgency in her voice made him comply as she led him out the open fire exit. Once outside he pulled his arm back, "What is it?"

Mikasa pulled out something from her purse. It took him a second for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting to recognise what she held in her hand; the red scarf he had given her when they first met.

He reached out and felt it, the scarf had clearly seen better days, the fabric was showing signs of wear and tear and it had lost more than a little of its ruby red colour. "When I first met you, this was the first thing that made me know I was safe. If it hadn't been for you, who knows what might've happened to me or my mother. That night when you and your family took me in, it meant that I truly could find a place to be happy no matter how far my family and I moved from. Eren, thank you."

Eren swallowed the lump forming in his throat, "I haven't been completely honest with you, Mikasa."

"Eren?"

"Perhaps I always felt this way about you and I was too hot-headed to realize, all I know is that I can't take this anymore, I can't keep lying to you and myself, Mikasa", his emerald eyes locked with her deep grey and he knew this wasn't a mistake, "You're the only one for me-" her lips crashed into his.

He leaned into the kiss, his hands gently placed on her hips and she locked her arms around his neck. He eventually broke the kiss, "You didn't let me finish", he mock pouted at her. She only grinned, "I got the jist of what you were saying." He sighed and released a breathy laugh, "If I had known it was this easy, I would've told you last summer, like Armin told me to."

"That's right, you should've", their friend said from behind them. "I'd say your headaches should leave now", Eren smiled at him. Armin snorted, "Yes, promise me one thing, both of you". They gestured for him to continue, "No more secrets, please?"

Eren held out his hand, "Promise you that."

Armin took his hand, his pale hand looked so small wrapped in his bigger friend's bronze one "And we won't third wheel you either", Mikasa snickered. Armin laughed in response "Appreciate it."

"One question, Romeo?", Eren waved at him.

"Hmm?"

"Where's Ruth?"

"Mina brought her to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach."

There was a comfortable silence before all three friends burst out laughing.

 _Present day:_

Mikasa was awakened by Eren shuffling off of her, he sat on the edge of his side of the bed and raised both of his arms over his head to stretch. He stepped out into the apartment's living area and was surprised to see Armin at the table, eating a bowl of Corn Flakes and reading one of his books, "Eh, morning buddy, surprised to see you here."

"You're not the only one whose girlfriend stays in this dorm."

Eren pinched his own cheeks in realization, "Oh, right."

"I'm surprised you forgot since both you and Mikasa had a role in bringing us together", he put his book down. "I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'thank you', " Eren smirked at him. "And I believe the phrase your teammates deserve from you is 'I'm sorry for being an ass, please forgive me', eh Jaeger?"

Armin and Eren turned to see Annie had, somehow, slipped by them unnoticed and was leaning against the kitchen counter looking at them over a mug of coffee which was at her lips. "Oh, uh good morning, Annie." Despite wearing her pyjamas, which consisted of loose fitting shorts and a dark green t-shirt, Eren still found her intimidating, made even more so by her bed-head and the 'I'm not a morning person, get the hell outta my way' look etched across her face.

"So", she placed her mug down "Your _are_ going to apologize to Reiner and Bertholdt for your tantrum on Saturday, right?". Eren tried frowning but he knew he didn't stand a chance in a stare-down against Annie Leonhardt. He swallowed hard, "Yes m'am." Her expression softened somewhat, "Ok then", she walked over to Armin draping her arms over his shoulders from behind, "Mind if I take the shower first?" she kissed the top of his head, "It's your dorm Annie", he went back to reading his book. "Hey no fair, my class starts in half an hour". Annie raised her eyebrow at him, "Oh, use the extra time to come up with a decent apology, not my fault you didn't get up early enough."

Annie grabbed her towel from her room and headed into the bathroom. "Boy you sure no how pick 'em", he said once he was sure she was out of earshot. Armin rolled his eyes in response, "She's not wrong you know."

"My alarm didn't go off", his friend huffed.

Armin sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Not that, about apologizing to Reiner and Bertholdt, you owe them that."

"You should, Eren", Mikasa had gotten out of bed and was leaning against the doorframe of her room, "Not only are you teammates but Reiner's also your roommate and as much as I love having you stay over now and again, this is the girls' dormitory." Armin snorted into his tea at the mention of that. "I don't know why you find that funny since you've had your hair that long since we were in kindergarten together."

"Fair point", he grabbed a piece of paper towel to wipe his mouth, "But it's not like you can stay cooped up here until you graduate, the dorm authorities will eventually discover your absence."

Eren sighed deeply, "But what if horseface is within earshot, I can't be held responsible for what happens to him, if-", he was cut off when Mikasa grabbed both of his cheeks, "Act your age, you say I'm not your mother, but it would help if you didn't act like such a child." Eren rubbed his, now very sore, cheeks. Annie stepped out of the bathroom draped in her towel, "All yours", she gestured with both of her arms to the bathroom as if she were showing off to an audience. "Hardy har, har", Eren said as unsarcastic as he could before taking his turn in the shower.

A few hours later he took a deep breath before turning the key to the dorm, he hadn't stepped foot in it since the previous Saturday. He had texted Reiner to meet up at their dorm but he had not anticipated him to be there waiting for him as he sat on the couch with Bertholdt. "Hi", he managed an awkward wave which both of his towering teammates returned.

"I'm not great at apologies, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry, Reiner, Bertholdt."

Reiner smiled, "Hey, we're good, I know it's not easy being on the losing side, it's doubly frustrating when your childhood friends are the opposition."

"Same here Eren", Bertholdt nodded at him, "My folks are going to tease me for weeks now, because of it."

"Still", Eren was beginning to find his footing, "I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that, both of you." Reiner stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You've got passion Eren, that can't be changed, just make sure you channel it in the right situations."

"I can promise you that", Eren had a determined smile on his face, "The Titans are going to pay for that defeat."

"Hey, at least you had the decency to apologize, it's not always the case with some people."

"If you don't mind me asking", Bertholdt turned to him, "What is your deal with the Titans?"

"That depends, have you got time?"

"We're both free."

"Right then", he clapped his hands together and took a seat on the next couch, "It all started eight years ago."

All three of them were silent for about a minute as Reiner and Bertholdt digested Eren's account of the wreckage the Titans' fans had inflicted on his hometown. "Do you think it's healthy to associate the terrible actions of their fans with the entire team though?", Bertholdt only seemed to be intrigued and Eren knew he wasn't trying to sway his emotions. "I don't hate everything about them, it's just, I want to get my own against their fans, and beating their beloved team is the closest I can get to making them experience the same pain I felt."

"You have the heart of a winner Eren", Reiner smiled at him, "Dare I say it, a champion, it's often the margin between someone who succeeds and someone who falls short."

Bertholdt nodded at Eren, "We're behind you, every step of the way."

 **(A/N: Well looks like Eren has realized that lashing out accomplishes little and that there's no shame in apologizing. This was arguably the most challenging chapter to write thus far, evidenced by the month long wait to update this story. We still have a long way to go yet folks! On a side note, watch this space over the coming days because my first canon universe story for SnK/AOT will be uploaded then.**


	17. Lesson Learnt?

**(A/N: I'm hoping to start picking up the pace with this arc as some hard hitting moments are right around the corner. Some character development might still be in play particularly where Jean, Marco, Connie and Sasha are concerned. Anyway ships are going to take a small timeout for the next ten chapters or so since the football team arc is going to take over the narrative for a bit. Apologies in advance for the shorter chapter this time, it is a bridge for the next couple of chapters. Enjoy and as per usual feel free to leave a review.)**

It had been a week since Eren had apologized to Bertholdt and Reiner but he still had punishment laps to do, Levi reckoned that the exercise would serve to discipline him and discourage any emotional outbursts from him in the future. He was on his tenth lap of twenty which took him around the outline of the practise field. Doing this brought him close to the next practise field where the cheerleading squad was in the midst of their own practise, he recognised a few faces that he had gradually been introduced to such as Ymir, Historia, and Sasha along with familiar ones like Mina and Hannah. He made the mistake of waving to them on one of his laps causing Levi to shout in his direction; "Keep it in your pants Jaeger!", his voice in its usual bored tone. As if he wasn't humiliated enough already.

He considered himself lucky for being athletic enough that the laps weren't overly exhausting but he would rather have been doing more practise drills with his teammate, it was the only area where he outshone everyone, even Coach Levi was slowly becoming impressed with his ability and distinct running style. He could've sworn he saw the tiniest hint of a smile on Levi's face when he cleverly found an almost invisible gap to make a large run in an 11 on 11 drill.

"Pick up the pace!", Ymir teased from the waist-high chain link face that separated the cheerleaders' practise from the football team's. Eren responded by flipping the bird at her, Ymir placed both of her hands over her heart in mock shock. "My, my, didn't your mother ever tell you, not to make such obscene gestures in the presence of lady? I think I might just faint."

"You're no lady", he called back to her as he continued his laps. "Oh, now really you've offended my delicate sensibilities!"

"JAEGER FOCUS!", Shadis barked at him from the defense's side of the practise field, "You're running laps as punishment, NOT TO FLIRT!" Eren tensed up, "Right, sorry sir." He went on with his current lap and tried his best to block out Ymir's grating cackling.

Over in the bleachers Connie sat alone watching the ongoing practise. Due to concussion protocol he was not permitted to participate in full-contact drills, which meant he was done for the day, but was also not permitted to leave as Shadis wanted him to hear the game-plan anyway. He had already missed one match due to the protocol, though they had managed to win albeit narrowly. He was feeling all kinds of emotions watching his teammates practise, frustration, anger, jealousy, but above all else he was feeling down in the dumps. Athletics was the only thing he had going for him, he hadn't ever received a grade higher than a B-minus in anything from elementary school onwards, he was't academically gifted, he scraped into Trost City University on the basis of his football scholarship and a less than impressive score on the entrance exam. Even though he should be good to go for the next match, he couldn't shake the worry about what to do next if his concussion were to become a recurring problem.

His somber mood was interrupted when his best friend plopped down next to him. "Why the long face, baldy?". Connie turned to her, "Oh, it's nothing, just bored." Sasha nodded, but inside she knew Connie was down in the dumps, they hadn't hung out since the day before the match against the Titans, he hadn't texted her, and according to Marco he had barely left his room. Throughout cheerleading practise she couldn't help but notice him sitting by himself in the bleachers looking like a toddler who had been sent to the naughty chair.

"Connie, we're friends, right?" He crossed his arms, "Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"That means we can be honest with each other, even when we feel we can't talk about it?"

"I guess so, why do you ask?"

"Well you seem a little down lately, are you sure everything's okay?"

"Sasha, I'm fine", he said his voice uncharacteristically firm. She sighed, "Whatever you tell me is completely confidential unless you say otherwise, don't you trust me?"

"Look, I just don't like sitting here with nothing to do, I guess I could've brought my study notes, but like that will do any good, since I'm a clueless moron."

"Now don't say that, you know you're not."

"Sasha I'm pretty sure I scored the lowest out of anyone in the entrance exam, while my roommate got a perfect score, I'm only good for hitting things."

"Are you seriously comparing yourself to Armin Arlert of all people, he looks exceptional to _everybody_ , even Mikasa looks average compared to him."

"Why do you care so much?", he snapped at her.

"Dammit Connie, we're friends, you were the only one who didn't tease me for being a hick when I was the new girl who knew nobody back in high-school, you set me up with my first boyfriend, we did almost everything together, don't you think I should care this much about you?"

Connie felt guilty now, _Jesus I'm an asshole she's only being a good friend why am I lashing out at her?_ "I'm sorry Sasha, I shouldn't have snapped at you, you're only trying to help."

"I'm just being your friend Connie, you know I'll always be there for you just like you were for me. Now, are you going to tell me the truth?"

Connie chuckled, "You're persistent, I'll give you that."

"You know it, now tell me." He lowered his head, _Damn even if I want to tell her, I can't seem to get the words out, but I can't lie, I've never been good at that; back home I couldn't even convince Mom it wasn't me who robbed from the cookie jar._ "It's just, I feel that football is all I got, what if I get concussed again, what do I do then?" He was fighting back tears now. She rubbed her hand up and down his back, "Connie, you're not even 20 years old yet, no one's asking you to plan your future now, you've another 3 years left in university, you can worry all you like then, and like I said before I'll be there for you whatever you do." Connie smiled weakly, "I honestly don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, Sasha." They both hugged each other.

"Also", she reached into her gym-bag, "I know these will cheer you up", she took out a large pack of sour cream and onion potato chips. They started stuffing their faces watching the ongoing practise they both joined in on the teasing of Eren whenever his laps brought him to the bleachers. Just then the large shadow of Keith Shadis loomed over them. "And what do you think you're doing?" Sasha ignored him and continued eating. "I ASKED YOU A MOTHERFUCKING QUESTION, STOP EATING THIS INSTANT AND GIVE YOUR NAME NOW!" Sasha swallowed hard, "Eh...erm, Sasha Braus, from Dauper, sir." She stared up at the imposing man, the gaze coming from his sunken eyes causing her to tremble. Shadis narrowed his eyes, "Sasha Braus, huh? Well then, aren't you familiar with the rule that clearly states NO EATING ON THE PRACTISE FIELD?!"

"B-but we're not even on the field, we're clearly in the bleachers, sir." Sasha didn't know where the sudden confidence had come from but she saw from Connie's not-so-subtle waving of his arms that she was making a HUGE mistake. Shadis stood tall his arms behind his back. "Eh..." she took the bag of potato chips, "Here sir, have some." Shadis had a puzzled look on his face, "Have, some?" She breathed a small sigh of belief and felt her face form a goofy smile. Shadis then neatly folded the opening of the bag, gently placed it on the ground and then stomped on it under his size 18s, turning the chips into dust. "You have 30 seconds to get out of here or else you can join Jaeger over there for punishment laps." His tone was calm, but Connie was well aware that this was when Shadis was at his most dangerous. "If it's okay sir, I can escort her." Shadis sucked on his tongue, "Fine, be back here in 10 minutes for the defense brief."

They both headed off, "Have you some sort of death-wish?", he said while waving his arms, "I thought Shadis was going to hang, draw and quarter you!"

"So did I, thanks for saving me."

"Please don't do that again, and keep your distance from him when you're on the sideline during games, because he will _definitely_ remember your face."

She nodded, "I can make the rest of the way myself, thanks again for appeasing him."

"Don't sweat it potato-girl", he gave her a cheeky grin.

"YOU...!", she reached out to grab him and to give him her signature headlock and noogie, but he dodged, "Too slow!", he called back at her. She saw the funny side of it, she had been caught eating potato chips after all, "Watch yourself cue-ball." She was happy to see him back in a cheerful mood, his casual teasing aside, but there was something else about him that gave her an odd feeling that she never would've thought she could ever feel about him. They'd been inseparable since high-school, becoming the resident pranksters, and their year's source of entertainment, but could she possibly have feelings for him that went far deeper than the platonic kind? She gave her head a quick shake before heading off to her dorm to get ready for her next class.

* * *

Another quick swing of her hips and her foreleg whacked the training bag, opposite her and holding said bag in place was the taller girl who had initially became her rival on her first day in TCU. "Aim a little higher, your opponents will usually be quite taller than you and I doubt you'll do much damage by aiming that low", Mikasa's tone was as monotonous as usual. Annie shrugged, "I suppose, though it's not like, I'm an expert in Muay Thai or anything." While their rivalry had subsided somewhat, there was still an underlying tension between the two, but to the relief of everyone, their kickboxing teammates especially, they had managed not to kill each other since their bust-up two months ago.

"Your turn", she said whilst wiping the sweat from her brow, after one last kick, higher this time, to the bag. "With pleasure", Mikasa let go of the bag. Annie liked to consider herself, strong and athletic, she could incapacitate men even bigger than Reiner and Bertholdt, but Mikasa was something else, her strength was almost superhuman, each strike to bag had the shorter girl constantly readjusting her feet to keep her from toppling over. She could've sworn she saw the tiniest hint of a smirk on the Asian's face whenever she saw Annie trying to stay upright with her strikes.

After another ten minutes, they were both in the locker room getting changed, Annie smiled to herself as she opened her phone to see a message from Armin; "ARE YOU FREE LATER?"

"GUESS SO WBU?"

"THE LAST JEDI, AT 8.00?"

"YOU NERD (Laughing Cry Emoji), I'VE NEVER SEEN STAR WARS, WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT?"

"OH ONLY 7 MOVIES :p YOU CAN PICK ANOTHER ONE IF YOU LIKE?"

"NO IT'S OKAY, YOU CAN EXPLAIN IT TO ME BLONDIE."

"ARE YOU SURE? I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS IF SCI-FI ISN'T YOUR THING."

"I'M OKAY, REALLY."

"ANNIE, I CAN COMPROMISE, WHAT SORT OF MOVIES ARE YOU INTO?" Annie looked at her screen for a few moments, this is where she really struggled. She had a far from normal childhood, being raised by her survivalist father she had never seen a film in her life. While the Hoovers had generously offered to bring her to the cinema on numerous occasions, she had politely declined every time. This was still all very new to her, socialising, relationships the whole nine yards. There was still so much Armin didn't know about her, and to be honest she would much rather keep it that way. She looked down at her phone and realised a few minutes had passed causing Armin to simply text a solitary question mark in response. She thought over what she should reply with before quickly sending her message; "I ACTUALLY DON'T WATCH ANY MOVIES..."

"NO WORRIES. I JUST WANTED TO PICK SOMETHING WE BOTH ENJOYED, I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO BE BORED AFTER ALL."

"ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT GIRLS DON'T LIKE SCI-FI, ARLERT?"

"WHAT?! NO THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!" She smiled at his frantic response, he was far too easy to tease at times, he always had ways to talk himself out of situations but in her presence he was usually clutching at straws. "AND HERE I WAS THINKING YOU WERE A RESPECTABLE GENTLEMAN BLONDIE..."

"I AM, OF COURSE WOMEN CAN LIKE SCI-FI. IT JUST A LAZY STEREOTYPE PERPETUATED BY YEARS OF PATRIARCHY." She covered her hand with her mouth trying to contain her giggles. "ARMIN. I'M KIDDING..."

"YOU'RE TERRIBLE!"

"AREN'T I? I'LL SEE YOU LATER."

"What's so funny?" Mikasa was standing opposite her, a towel draped around her shoulders while brushing her chin-length hair.

"Just Armin", she shrugged.

"Oh", she simply walked back to her bag.

"You're uncomfortable with the two of us dating", she stared down at her feet, "Aren't you?"

"It's complicated." Annie scoffed at her response "In what way, unless the three of you had some bizzare three way polyamorous relationship going on?" Mikasa placed her hands on her hips, clearly irked at Annie's retort, "What the fu-? NO!"

"Then why do you care, clearly he's allowed date whoever he likes?"

"He's my best friend, I don't want to see him get hurt", She crossed her arms. Annie stood up, "And how, why even, would I hurt him?"

"He's had his heart broken before, I'm not going to let him go through that again."

"Jesus Christ, he's not some little porcelain doll that you can protect with bubble wrap, he's a human being with emotions he'll go through relationships and breakups it's part of this cruel and unfair game called life."

" _Breakups_ , so you're not sure if your relationship is permanent?"

"Who the fuck knows?! I might get bored of him or, the far more likely scenario, he'll get bored with me, but for now we both make each other happy, why have you got such an issue with that? Focus on your own relationship with that hothead Eren!" Mikasa smirked, "Look Annie, I don't do this to be mean to you, but try to understand that he means a lot to me and Eren as well, in fact Eren and I are together because of him. He would say the opposite of course; that he owes me a lot, typical of him, placing the needs and wants of others above his own. He deserves to be happy, and I'm willing to put a stop to anyone or anything who gets in the way of that." Annie simply nodded, "What do you mean, he believes he owes you a lot?", she scratched her chin.

"All I did was fend off his high-school bullies, it was nothing."

"Oh", _of course he would've been bullied, he's small now and was probably smaller back then plus he's ridiculously smart, even more tempting for asshats to pick on him._ "Mikasa, the last thing I would ever do is hurt him. Trust me, I want to be a good person to him, he's always seen me as that."

"As long as you make Armin happy, I've no issue." She closed the dressing-room locker with a slam. "Though there is one thing we can agree on."

"Oh?"

"Eren can be a hothead." They both chuckled lightly as they gathered their things and left leaving their little détente intact.

 **(A/N: Thanks to everyone for patiently waiting for this update, I'll be on hiatus from writing for a few months, so apologies in advance, I do have a college degree and part-time job to focus on as well. I need to take the time to plan how I want this story to progress, it will be a while yet before it's completed. In particular I would like to give a shout-out to Scattershot98 for the loyal reviews, the feedback has been a HUGE help. My canon-universe story Bound by Blood will see more updates and I'm hoping to have the next chapter up next week. As always thanks to everyone for following this story and your encouraging reviews!)**


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